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MEMORIES 



STANLEY PUMPHREY 



HENRY STANLEY NEWMAN 



OF ENGLAND 




NEW YORK 

FRIENDS' BOOK AND TRACT COMMITTEE 

714 Water Street 

1883 



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Copyright, 1883, by 
DAVID S . T A P. E R , 



T row's 

Printing akd Bookbinding Company, 

201-213 liasi T'jvelfth Street, 

NEW YORK. 



CO NTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Boyhood, i 

CHAPTER II. 
Apprenticeship, 14 

CHAPTER III. 
Life in Dublin, 35 

CHAPTER IV. 
Cirencester, 47 

CHAPTER V. 
Cirencester — Continued, 63 

CHAPTER VI. 
Ireland, 73 

CHAPTER VII. 
Worcester, . 91 

CHAPTER VITI. 
Baltimore, iii 

CHAPTER IX. 
North Carolina, 122 

CHAPTER X. 
Illustrations of Peace Principles, .... 134 

CHAPTER XI. 
Tennessee, 156 



iv Contents. 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Hampton, 165 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Philadelphia, 169 

CHAPTER XIV. 
New York, 175 

CHAPTER XV. 
New England, 183 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Kansas, 199 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Indian Territory, 208 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Iowa, 231 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Indiana, 242 

CHAPTER XX. 
Western, 251 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Ohio, 255 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Work Among the Coloured People, .... 262 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Canada, 277 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Returning Home, 284 

CHAPTER XXV. 
At Rest, 2S9 



MEMORIES OF 

STANLEY PUMPHREY, 



CHAPTER I. 

BOYHOOD. 



In the heart of the City of Worcester, in the Cross, 
stands St. Nicholas Church, and there in 1837 stood 
the parsonage, which was for years the home of the 
late Frances Ridley Havergal, at that time a blithe 
active girl intent on doing good. Exactly opposite 
formerly stood a chandler's shop, and there on the 
15 th July, Stanley Pumphrey was born of sober 
godly parents. The lad was named after his father, 
the first boy of the family, having two older sisters. 
His mother's name was Mary, the eldest daughter 
of Samuel Westcombe, and as one child after 
another arrived, scrupulous frugality was needed, 
and the mother might seem to be careful and 
troubled about many things ; albeit there was a 
strong reserve force of devout Christianity, and 
much of her own bright character became devel- 
oped in her children. 



2 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

On the birth of Stanley, his young sister was sent 
up to St. John's with the good news, informing her 
aunts in her own way, '' Polly has got a little bother ! " 

His nurse had a summary mode of putting the 
child to sleep by closing his eyes and keeping them 
shut with her own fingers. One day he rebelled 
against the procedure, declaring he did not want to 
go to sleep. *'Then I shall put your head out of 
the window," said the nurse. This threat had not, 
however, the desired effect, and the nurse seized her 
young charge and thrust his head through the win- 
dow, astonishing the foot passengers in the street 
below with the fall of the broken glass. 

The boy was early taught the love of Jesus, and 
the child's heart turned lovingly towards the Sav- 
iour. When a very tiny lad on his mother's knee 
looking at pictures, he said, "What is this picture, 
mamma?" pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. She 
told him of the love of Jesus for little children, and 
he whispered reverently, with the bright happy look 
beaming on his face, in the same loving way with 
which he repeated Ann Taylor's favourite lines, '^ My 
Mother," emphasizing the words, ''Jesus, my Sav- 
iour." 

When about four years old he was very fond of 
playing at Scripture characters, describing some 
character and getting the others to guess who it was. 

" Grandpapa, I have got some one for tliee to 
guess," he would say to his grandfather. 

''Then tell me something about him," the old 
man replied, for he delighted in his little grandchild. 

" Well then, thou wilt iind him in the Bible." 



Boyhood, 3 

" In the New Testament or the Old ? " 

" In the New." 

*' Was he a good man ? " 

*' I don't know," answered the child. 

**Not know whether he was a good man or a bad 
one?" 

**No, grandpapa, some things make me think he 
was good, and some things make me think he wasn't 
good." 

** Then tell me something more about him." 

*' He tried to do a miracle and couldn't," again 
replied the boy. 

The grandfather looked puzzled, and Stanley went 
on — 

''Didn't Peter try to walk on the sea, and fell in ?" 
— and so the mixed character of the Apostle per- 
plexed the lad early in life. 

Stanley had such high spirits and was so wilful 
that his mother often felt anxious. Yet he was a 
thoughtful obedient boy, and the bias given to his 
mind in childhood helped to qualify him for the 
precise work in the Church he was afterwards to 
fulfil. His mother's narrative of Robert Moffat in 
South Africa, and other stories, planted within him 
the germs of that keen interest in foreign missions 
which made him afterwards such an energetic mem- 
ber of the Friends' Foreign Mission committee, 
and an efficient helper of the Moravian Missionary 
Society. 

He early learnt that the spirit of Jesus is the spirit 
of love, and that His followers should not fight their 
enemies, but do them good. He one day picked up 



4 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

a tea-paper on which there was a representation 
of a battle with the Chinese. He asked what it 
meant, and was told that it was the English fight- 
ing the Chinese. He was much surprised, and 
asked if it happened lately, saying that he had 
heard of the Chinese War but thought that it was a 
long time ago. He was quite shocked when he found 
it had just occurred, and he ran off to his little sister 
Helen, exclaiming in horror, '' Helen, dear ! the 
English have been fighting the Chinese, the English 
who have Bibles and ought to know better ! Yes, there 
has been a war in our time, when Helen was three 
years old and I was hardly five." 

'' The Bible has always been veiy dear to me," he 
said, afterwards. " I well remember the joy it gave 
me when I first had a Bible of my own, the gift of 
my precious mother when I Avas six years old. But 
long before that it had been my delight to read it, 
and even then my mind sought to understand its mys- 
teries. 'Mamma,' I said, when one morning before 
I was dressed I had been reading the account of the 
Plagues of Egypt, ' how was it that God hardened 
Pharaoh's heart ? ' It seemed strange to me that the 
good Lord should thus appear to be the author of 
evil. Before she had time to reply, my own expla- 
nation was ready, and I felt satisfied that it was only 
just that the very wicked should be thus dealt with. 
The Book which was the joy of my childhood became 
not less the joy of my youth, and no time was to me 
more precious than the half-hour which I devoted 
every morning to its contents and to prayer." 

To his mother he also owed that enthusiastic love 



Boyhood. 5 

of the beautiful in nature and in art which made 
him ready both in boyhood and manhood to take a 
rough scramble after a rare flower, or a long walk 
early in the morning to secure some longed-for view 
across the landscape at sunrise, or late at night along 
the Severn in the moonlight. From these country 
rambles he would return home with his jacket but- 
toned round a bunch of wild flowers too big for his 
hands to hold, or kneeling beside some spring flower 
that he might admire it the more intently, he would 
exclaim, '' It is too beautiful to pick ! " 

At other times he would wake his eldest sister 
Lucy early in the morning, and they would be off to 
Berwick's brook before breakfast, hunting for fresh- 
water shells. 

Life in the city was by no means congenial to the 
lad's natural tastes, but he was found busy at work 
with his sisters sowing grass between the interstices 
of the flags in the little courtyard where they played 
at the back of the house, in order that they might 
have something green to look at, thus acquiring the 
faculty of adapting himself to his environment, and 
endeavouring to mould his environment to his own 
taste. 

" How uncommonly good that boy is to his little 
sister, it is beautiful to see how they love one 
another," was the remark of Mary Tanner as she saw 
Stanley at play. 

*' I can remember," says his youngest sister, *' how 
when a schoolboy he condescended to play at dolls 
with us, and the style in which he did it. One of 
my dolls had incurred my serious displeasure, and 



»6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

we determined to kill it. So first of all she was Anne 
Askew, and we tied her to a stake and proceeded to 
burn her at the kitchen fire, but the fire was low and 
the process slow, and we changed our minds and 
pulled her out and drowned her, and then brought 
her to life again as Lady Jane Grey, and cut off her 
head. Playing with dolls became something exciting 
under such dramatizing as this. 

** Stanley was a grand story teller. Perched on 
boxes, or sitting in the summer-house, or on all 
manner of stiles, rails, and fences, Helen and I used 
to get splendid stories from him, sometimes his- 
torical of King Alfred or the martyrs, sometimes 
good Quaker ones of William Penn, of the little 
boy who got into disgrace by saying ' thou ' to some 
big man who was indignant because the boy did not 
say * you,' sometimes tales such as Stories for Sum- 
mer Days and Winter Nights, sometimes magnifi- 
cent yarns spun from his own fancy. On asking 
him to tell me a story over again another day, he 
would reply, * Oh dear, I cannot, I made it up as I 
went along, and don't remember a word of it now.' 

*' Our next-door neighbour was a bookseller, and 
Stanley was a favourite there as elsewhere, so much 
so that he used to slip in every morning, and his 
halfpence were spent in pictures and farthing books. 
But it was not only little story books that he laid 
hands upon. He was not six years old when he 
was found one day reading Barclay's Apology. * I 
think I shall find these prepositions very interesting,' 
he said, but he presently found they were too much 
for him. 



Boyhood. 7 

" He had a wonderful love for William Penn, and 
astonished us very much one day by producing a 
little box he had obtained, made out of the tree 
under which Penn signed his treaty with the 
Indians, exclaiming in boyish glee, ' I value that 
more than anything else I have except my Bible.' " 

About this time he was visiting at Hook Norton, 
and a farmer coming in began to talk to cousin 
Edwin Pumphrey about the weather and how bad 
it was for the crops. When Stanley went to bed 
that night, he prayed that God would send the 
right weather for the country, adding " I ask Thee 
this, Heavenly Father, because I know Thou hears 
me." 

But he was not always grave, sometimes he was 
full of mischief. Being poorly one day, he was 
doctored with camomile tea, which he did not relish, 
and called out to his sister, 

" Here, Helen, come and drink it for me." 

*' That won't do thee the good," she replied. 

*' Why, Caroline would do it for me in a minute," 
he answered. 

" No, she won't," said Helen. 

'•' Caroline, dear," he called out in persuasive tones, 
*' I have got such a lot of nasty stuff to drink, come 
and help me like a nice little sister, now do ? " 

Caroline did it, of course, and felt well repaid by 
the triumphant rejoinder, '* There ! I knew she 
would." 

At play one day his cousin Mary Caroline said, 
**ril give anybody sixpence who'll walk along the 
under side of that plank." 



8 Memories of Stanley Pmnphrey. 

" All right," shouted Stanley at once, as he turned 
the plank over and ran along, exclaiming, " Done !" 

When on a visit at Ackworth the same summer, 
Stanley Avas one day lost. High and low, indoors 
and out, he was hunted for in vain. At last he was 
found in one of the deserted bedrooms reading his 
Bible, and entirely forgetful how time had been 
passing ; and the lad was quite troubled when he 
found the anxiety he had caused. 

He early betrayed a great fancy for giving lec- 
tures with diverse illustrations. One of his earliest 
efforts of this kind was an ambitious attempt at 
astronomy. Sun, moon, Saturn's ring, and the con- 
stellations were cut out of paper, and shown to a de- 
lighted but very select audience, in a darkened 
counting house ; a clothes-horse serving as screen, 
and a lighted candle behind producing wonderful 
effects. Political lectures followed veiy early, and 
at the parliamentary election the little lad drew 
down the front blinds of the house because his can- 
didate did not get in. 

He lost his mother when he was eight years old. 
This made a deep impression on him, and though it 
is difficult to point accurately to the time of his con- 
version, he thenceforward was more decidedly a 
Christian boy, and became increasingly susceptible 
to the influences of the Holy Spirit. 

About the same time, he was placed at a boarding 
school at Charlbury, and was known as a thoughtful, 
conscientious boy, singularly guarded in his conduct. 
His uncle John M. Albright resided at Charlbury, 
and his sisters were frequent visitors there. Splendid 



Boyhood. 9 

rambles in the woods and through the forest, were 
the delight of those early days. Of course everything 
in the way of natural history interested the children, 
such as hunting in quarries for the fossils of the 
oolite, and expeditions to Stonesfield, where coppers 
were eagerly exchanged with old quarrymen for 
sharks' teeth and fossil shells. Once when the party 
were caught in a heavy shower of rain, Stanley and 
his sisters found refuge in the overhanging quarry, 
and there beguiled the time with never-failing stories 
and poetry. 

"Hail to the chief who in triumph advances," 

was Stanley's selection for the occasion, the ringing 
chorus echoing through the quarry, no one enjoying 
it more than himself. 

"Say it again," exclaimed his little sister. 

"What's the good?" he answered, "thou cannot 
understand a word of it." 

"Oh never mind that," replied the child, "it 
sounds splendid." 

He would often act the teacher, and was fond of 
giving lessons. Were there ever more charming- 
children's lessons than his ? Was it history ? He 
must have the map to see how King Charles rode 
from Worcester, via Leominster to Boscobel. Was it 
geography ? It was not to be expected that a child 
could remember a hard list of names, but Worms, 
Spires, and the Wartburg became living places when 
the story of Luther was woven in with them. 

He had early joined the Juvenile Temperance 
Society, and one of his earliest efforts at lecturing 



10 Memories of Sta7iley Pmnphrey. 

was in advocacy of its claims. He gave a Temper- 
ance Lecture at Charlbury school, which was so 
convincing to his playmates that, with one excep- 
tion, they all signed the temperance pledge. 

He greatly reverenced the men who had laboured 
for the abolition of slavery, and felt it quite an 
honour to shake hands with Joseph Sturge, who was 
attending a meeting against capital punishment. 

It was but little pocket money the lad was allowed 
in those days, and when he had once at school been 
betrayed into spending it in pear-drops and acid- 
drops, he wrote home humbly to his father, hoping 
that he should never be so foolish again as to spend 
it on " such trash." 

At the age of twelve, he was sent to Ackworth 
School, where his uncle Thomas Pumphrey was then 
superintendent. He was afterwards a pupil at 20, 
Bootham, York, under the care of John Ford. On 
his arrival at York, Fielden Thorp examined the 
new boys in reading, to judge where to place them 
in class. One boy read hesitatingly, another stum- 
blingly, but young Stanley " electrified " his teacher 
by the oratorical power he threw into his reading ; 
*' he read it as it ought to be read, read it well, and 
knew he did." 

j He here became passionately fond of poetry, and 
• developed those qualities which in after life made 
ihim the vigorous botanist and the helpful art critic. 
He set his face against wrong-doing, and energeti- 
cally exerted himself to put a stop to bad language in 
the school. The ministry of James Backhouse at 
York was much blessed to him. James Backhouse 



Boyhood. 1 1 

had returned from his long missionary labours in 
South Africa, Australia, and Van Dieman's Land, and 
Stanley reverenced him greatly. When the veteran 
had been laid aside with a dangerous illness, the 
schoolboy prayed that his life might be spared for 
another fifteen years ; and fifteen years afterwards 
Stanley Pumphrey was able to publicly acknowledge 
how fully and exactly the Lord had answered that 
prayer. 

In the First Month of 1852 Stanley was placed 
in the first class in French, and in Till Adam 
Smith's German Class. At this time he was dili- 
gently reading the Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. 
He was anxious to learn Greek, but his father put a 
veto on it for a time. The same month the boys at- 
tended a lecture by Elihu Burritt on Ocean Penny 
Postage. 

Stanley was also at work on botany, and in the 
Second Month records with satisfaction that he had 
two hundred and nine specimens, and that Samuel 
Capper and Katharine Backhouse paid a religious 
visit to the school. On the i6th occurs the follow- 
ing entry in his journal, '* The committee for visit- 
ing schools was here this evening. After John Ford 
had read the 28th Psalm, Josiah Forster addressed 
us. He was followed by John Allen, and then John 
Pease offered one of the most beautiful prayers I 
ever heard. It was a delightful and I hope a profit- 
able occasion." 

Under date Fourth Month, 24th, he records another 
school incident, ** Soon after ten started on a walk 
to Acomb. Joseph Rowntree took a leap, and broke 



12 Memories of Stanley Pimiphrey. 

the two bones of his leg. The leap was twenty-one 
feet long, and eight feet descent ! " 

The next month he enters another visit to *' Joe's 
leap." 

On Fourth Month, 25th, he writes, ** Woke at seven 
minutes past six a.m., and read the Life of Zwingle, 
and part of the Life of Calvin." 

" Fifth month, 31st. — I wrote a letter to Willie, at- 
tempting to comfort him on the death of his brother. 
I felt a little of the love of God in my heart. I re- 
ceived an answer from him full of faith about the loss 
of his brother. In the evening, John Ford gave us 
an account of the London Yearly Meeting, and con- 
cluded with a solemn exhortation on the duty of 
prayer. In bed the Almighty was pleased to fill my 
heart with His love, and I prayed earnestly for my- 
self and my beloved schoolfellow Willie." 

" Sixth Month, ist. — Woke early, and offered up 
my heart to my Maker in thanksgiving and prayer. 
May he keep me near Him, and enable me not to slip 
from the path He has opened for me. His love sur- 
rounded me through the day. ' Bless the Lord, O my 
soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.' " 

" Sixth Month, 3rd. — After breakfast the Parable 
of the Sower w^as read to us. I felt a fear that I 
might be like the seed cast on stony ground, which 
is compared to those who at first received the word 
with joy, but when trials and temptations come, 
they quickly wither away. Oh Heavenly Father, be 
pleased to make me like the seed sown in good 
ground, and enable me to bring forth fruit to Thy 
glory." 



Boyhood. 13 

The next day he says, " In the evening I got into 
a passion about a little trifle ; but I believe the sun 
did not go down upon my wrath, and I trust I found 
forgiveness for my sin." 

On the following Sabbath he woke early, and 
prayed especially that he might have "good meet- 
ings." '' In the morning meeting I was enabled to 
turn my thoughts heavenward most of the time, but 
I found it very difficult to keep my thoughts from 
straying. James Backhouse gave us an excellent 
sermon on the necessity of approaching God in the 
name of Jesus. After dinner I walked about with 
Willie in pursuance of our intention to talk together 
on religious subjects. My heart was full and I could 
hardly speak, but at last I told him that the Lord 
had been very good to me in the week. Willie also 
said that the Lord had been very good to him." 

" Sixth Month, 8th. — In the evening I knelt down 
and offered up a prayer to God which I trust was 
accepted." 

''Sixth Month, 12th. — I received twelve shillings 
in prizes to-day and fear I am rather elated about it. 
O Heavenly Father, be pleased to help me for Jesus' 
sake ! " 

*' Sixth Month, 13th.— I walked with Willie after 
dinner, and after a long silence I confessed to him 
that I had advanced but little, if I had not indeed 
gone back in my heavenward journey. He after- 
wards spoke, and then I offered up a short verbal 
prayer for us both. O Gracious God, be pleased to 
preserve me in the right path, and enable me to love 
Thee more and serve Thee better than I have done! " 



CHAPTER II. 

APPRENTICESHIP. 

At the age of sixteen Stanley Pumphrey was ap- 
prenticed to William Sparkes, ironmonger, High 
Street, Worcester, and won esteem by thorough at- 
tention to his master's business. He was very con- 
scientious. There were many unseen tumults tossing 
within his soul, but the good was conquering the evil. 

The verger of Worcester Cathedral one day polite- 
ly requested him to take off his hat on entering its 
''holy" precincts, and was rather astonished to re- 
ceive in reply a pretty free dissertation against the 
superstitious consecration of churches, and the sup- 
posed holiness of piles of masonry. 

The evenings were often spent at home with his 
father and sisters, and thus was avoided the isolation 
from home that falls to the lot of many apprentices. 
"The most pure and gentle life" of his beloved sis- 
ter Helen was one of the powerful influences for 
good that moulded his character. The Sabbath 
evenings were mostly spent in reading with her ; but 
often the book would be dropped, while the two 
young sisters he delighted to teach, listened with 
eager interest to his narratives of things he had seen 
and heard, and the earnest thoughts which made 



Apprenticeship. 1 5 

them think, even as children, *' Our boy will cer- 
tainly become a preacher." 

But there was another ''pure and gentle life" that 
was now moulding his career, and filling him with a 
holy enthusiasm for right doing. The young man's 
romantic account of his first attachment may stand 
in his own words. 

" Just after I left school I first met with Ellen 
Horsnaill, the sister of two amiable companions of- 
mine at Charlbury School, herself then a scholar at 
my aunt Lucy Westcombe's. It was an evening 
party, and I at once remarked her as the loveliest of 
the group, her features beautifully formed, her com- 
plexion perfect, her golden hair falling in curls over 
her shoulders. It is not only I who pronounce her 
beautiful, or my testimony might be suspected, for 
as Dante of Beatrice (a name under which I have 
often been accustomed fondly to think of her) I 
should say that she was far lovelier than any other I 
have met. I sat down beside her, and talked of her 
brothers whom I had loved, and as she spoke her 
features beamed more radiantly, and her smile 
seemed something too beautiful for earth. When I 
lighted the company in the passage as they parted, 
she was the only one who extended her hand to me, 
and then I felt that I had indeed loved her. The 
Sabbath, too, seemed more blessed, because I then 
always saw her. As I sat in meeting my eye would 
continually turn towards her, and my worship was 
often interrupted to bestow upon her the blessing of 
my soul. In my most serious moments I trembled, 
as I thought she usurped too large a place in my 



i6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

affections, and I asked myself whether I did not 
really love her more than God. 

*' Thus time passed over, and I was unconscious 
whether my love was returned or no, when one 
morning in meeting, after I had been more than 
usually earnest in prayer for her, I looked towards 
her and found her eye steadily fixed on me. Mine 
I withdrew, but instinctively looked again, and still 
that sweet, mild glance was turned towards mine. 
That glance was long the best assurance I had of her 
answering affection, and he who is not a lover cannot 
know the comfort it was to me. At last the time 
drew near that she should finally leave Worcester, 
and I well remember the emotion I felt in that even- 
ing meeting, the last in which I could expect, for a 
long season, to behold her face. Our evening meet- 
ings generally wxre silent, but twice in the solemn 
worship of that summer's eve the warning was ut- 
tered by the preacher to keep from idolatr}'-. I felt 
that the rebuke was due. 

''The next time I met her was during my summer 
vacation in 1856, when I was welcomed to her 
father's house as her brother Cleverley's visitor, 
though I need not say there was one whom I was 
much more solicitous to see. I spent four or five 
very happy days with them, and the beautiful scenery 
which I saw in her company round Rochester is still 
vividly before my mind. Independently of the 
special charm that household has for me, it is a 
delightful one to visit. Seldom have I felt so strik- 
ingly the governing principle of love, seldom have I 
been more impressed than I was in William Hors- 



Apprenticeship. ly 

naill with the beauty of the Christian character, for 
I know no one in whom Christianity more delight- 
fully pervades the every act of life. 

*^ The three meetings I attended there, were mem- 
orable ones, though there was not a word of vocal 
ministry. In the first I felt as I had never felt before 
what it is to have fellowship with the Father. In 
the second I was shown that it was still possible that 
I might fall away, and the awful consequences were 
set before me of so doing after having tasted the 
good Word of Grace. The third was a time of con- 
flict, for I was much discouraged at not having re- 
ceived some surer evidence of my Ellen's love, but 
the cloud was at last dispelled, and if ever God made 
a promise to me. He promised then that my beloved 
one should be mine. This has often been an un- 
speakable comfort to me, for more than ever I can 
now regard her as a gift of His. 

" I met her next at Worcester, where she came 
on a visit in the Spring. It filled me with joy to 
meet her again, and those whom I met wondered 
why I looked so happy. I passed several delightful 
intervals in her society, and received from her some 
few assuring words. Her presence urged me to 
complete some verses of poetry which I had long 
had in hand, for I was anxious that she should be 
among the first to hear them. When I produced the 
manuscript, I did not say whose it was, but my sis- 
ters suspected it was mine. After I had recited it, 
they changed their minds, but in her quiet look of 
pleasure, and I thought of pride, I read a different 
verdict, and judged, that as was fitting, my beloved 



1 8 Memories of Stanley Picmphrey. 

one had thought most worthily of me. I am assured 
that her heart is true to me as mine to her, and that 
God is preparing us to enjoy together the voyage of 
life. I do not love her so passionately as I once did, 
because, blessed be God, my heart is more firmly 
centred where it ought to be, so that I could answer 
unhesitatingly the question that troubled me in days 
gone by, and feel that through His grace I could 
give her up if she stood in the way of my service 
unto Him. But I believe that in great kindness He 
has ordered differently, and that she shall be my 
own, and it is my frequent prayer that we may be 
prepared one for another, to serve the Lord together 
all the days of our life, our strongest bond of union 
being our mutual love for God and our Saviour. I 
would further acknowledge that I believe her in- 
fluence over me in youth was extremely valuable. I 
could not at the same time delight in sinful and un- 
worthy things and love her whom I pictured to my- 
self as the very ideal of all that in woman is pure and 
lovely." 

In the foregoing, Stanley Pumphrey alludes to his 
efforts at poetical composition. There is a time in 
most men's lives when they incline to be poets, be- 
fore the sternly practical battle of life sets in upon 
them with absorbing force, and as the days of poetry 
with Stanley were the days of early manhood, it may 
be well here to insert one of his poetic efforts. 
When his whole life became a poem to the praise of 
God, it was by firm allegiance to the will of His 
Master that he realised the higher harmonies of 
heaven. 



Apprenticeship. 19 

If to thee there has ought been given 

Of knowledge, or wisdom, trnth, or love,— 

And if for thee the founts of heaven 
Have been opened from above ; 

Not for thyself is the gift imparted ; 

Thy love is given for the weary-hearted, 

Thy knowledge that others may also know, 

Thy wisdom to guide them as they go, 
Thy truth to make them free. 

Give thou then with unsparing hand 

The wealth of thy mind or soul, 
Sow thy seed broad-cast o'er the land, 

Let thy bounty know no control. 
The truth that thou givest shall still be thine, 
Thou as a star on high shalt shine, 
The joy is thine of enforcing right, 
Some soul through thy words may receive the light, 

And reflect it back to thee. 

Of light and heat does the generous sun 

Pour forth its unchecked supply ; 
Freely the rivers onward run, 

Nor fear lest their fouiit be dry. 
Nature doth freely her bounty bestow, 
Her treasures she yields in perennial flow ; 
And God for ever upon thy head 
Showers blessings and gifts unlimited, 

And He bids thee resemble Him. 

He was reading early and late in his leisure time, 
and gathered round him a choice selection of the 
best authors. He was careful what he read ; and 
one of his books of poetry had the doubtful passages 
carefully cut out and other objectionable stanzas 
pasted over, so that his sisters might be able to en- 
joy the book with him without offending their 



20 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

modesty. Sometimes he undertook a special course 
of study to prepare lectures for drawing-room 
audiences on Dante, Pascal, Chrysostom, and other 
congenial subjects. He also devoted much care to 
the preparation of an Essay on The Causes of the Nu- 
merical Decline in the Society of Friends. Much to his 
disappointment his essay did not win the prize of 
one hundred guineas, but the effort undoubtedly w^as 
a boon to him and called forth an amount of definite 
thought respecting the w^elfare of the Society of 
Friends which became fruitful for good. 

In reviewing this essay and observing the reflec- 
tion it gives of the state of Friends when w^ritten, it 
is cheering to note that however many faults may 
still cling to the Society, it is not now bemoaning 
causes of decline, but year by year reporting an in- 
creased membership, and engaged in many districts 
in active and successful aggressive w^ork. The line 
of thought Stanley Pumphrey takes may be epitom- 
ized by the headings of the chapters, wdth a few ex- 
tracts representing his style as an author. Com- 
mencing with a discourse on *' Disownments " for 
marriage, he proceeds to the disadvantages of 
"Celibacy," and the dangers of ''Schism." Then 
follow chapters on the '' Peculiarities " of dress and 
address at that time in vogue among Friends, the 
** Spirit of the world," the '' Want of religious over- 
sight and intercourse," the '' Spirit of exclusiveness," 
concluding by a chapter on the "Absence of the 
proselyting spirit." 

The " Introduction " runs after this fashion. "A 
little colony upon a newly-peopled shore parted 



Apprenticeship. 21 

from their fellows and went farther ahead into the 
forest until they reached a broad well-watered valley 
where the strength of the vegetation betokened a 
fertile soil. Here they settled. They cleared the 
woods and drained the marshes. They planted, they 
builded. The gifts of nature were poured upon 
them richly from the horn of increase, and when the 
vintage and the harvest were gathered in, they found 
that they had enough and to spare. Then they sent 
to their former companions, telling them the ad- 
vantages of the spot and asking them to come and 
share in their abundance. With more labourers the 
valley became more productive and more beautiful, 
and they prospered exceedingly. But in the course 
of time selfishness crept in, whispering ' Why ask 
more Strangers ? — Keep the land yourselves, there is 
none too much for you and your children.' So the 
invitations became fewer and more cold. Quarrels, 
moreover, the invariable attendants of selfishness, 
broke out amongst them. Some were driven away, 
and the remainder, like Abraham and Lot, parted, 
one division going to the right-hand and the other 
to the left. Division is weakness. A curse seemed 
now to rest upon the settlers. They became listless 
and indolent, and it was in vain for them that the 
land was as the garden of the Lord. The forest re- 
gained dominion, and the dank jungle again 
obscured the sparkling stream. Corresponding 
causes produce analogous results in Christian 
churches." 

Respecting celibacy Stanley Pumphrey observes, 
*' Marriage is the condition naturally designed for 



22 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

man. It is the ordinance of God, and like ever}'- 
thing else that He ha*ordained, is fraught with good. 
To provide for us one faithful friend, who sharing 
the joys and sorrows of life should enhance the one 
and mitigate the other, to retain for us one heart for 
ever true though all others turn aside, whose contin- 
ual love should ever refresh us and be as the unfail- 
ing fountain in the desert, to whom we might open 
all our sorrows, and whose sympathy might soothe 
where it could not heal, with whom we might take 
sweet counsel concerning the things of God, and bow 
in union before His throne ; such are the blessings 
a beneficent Father intended should be ours, when 
seeing that it was not good for man to be alone. He 
provided in Hia mercy an help meet for him. Some, 
dwelling upon the cares of married life rather than 
its joys, are anxious to escape them ; others, again, 
consider that the expenses of married life would be 
more than they could bear. The first should learn 
that the pride which leads a young man to be ashamed 
of beginning life more simply than his father ends 
it, is a false pride that can never promote his happi- 
ness. The latter should be content to live moder- 
ately, and cultivate faith in God. God does not give 
children to His servants without also providing for 
their maintenance ; even as David could testify after 
the experience of a lengthened life, that he had never 
seen the seed of the righteous begging bread. God 
teaches us to regard children not as objects for 
harassing anxiety, but as blessings from His hand. 
Children, he tells us, are 'his reward,' and 'happy,' 
responds the Psalmist, 'is the man who has his quiver 



Essay. 23 

full of them.' He who imparts life can much more 
maintain it. He who .feeds the ravens and adorns 
the lilies, will give thee food and clothing. Want of 
faith, and the desire to maintain what is generally- 
regarded as a respectable station in society, are the 
probable causes of the comparative rarity of mar- 
riage." 

In connection with ''religious reticence" the fol- 
lowing incident occurs, culled from his own life. 
*' Some years ago two young men w^ho were upon a 
pleasure excursion, stopped to attend one of the 
Quarterly Meetings of the Friends. They came from 
distant parts of the country, and were entire strangers 
to every resident in the town, but according to the 
usages of the Society they were welcomed with 
warmth and hospitality. It was one of those beauti- 
ful summer mornings when all things appear serene 
and lovely, and when, as far as nature can thus in- 
fluence us, the heart is disposed to peace and good- 
will. All whom they met seemed animated by those 
happy virtues, many greeted them with words of 
kindness, and in the solemn pause that followed the 
morning reading of the Bible, a minister addressed 
an exhortation specially to them. As they afterwards 
wandered forth into the garden one of them felt that 
that morning would not be soon forgotten, and that 
more earnest desires had been awakened in his soul 
to be found standing on the Lord's side. Yet it was 
not the beauty of the summer morning that had 
touched his heart, nor the kindness of the Friends, 
nor the words that the minister had addressed to them 
in the presence of the company, but because at part- 



24 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

ing an aged pilgrim had warmly pressed the hands 
of himself and his companion, and expressed with a 
fervour that evidenced the depth of her emotion, the 
hope that they would be 'faithful followers of a 
Crucified Lord.' The tear started to the eye, utter- 
ance was choked as he attempted to reply, but from 
that time to this the hope of that venerable Christian 
has been the earnest and unremitting longing of that 
young man's soul." 

Again, respecting the contrast between the w^ork 
of faith and the life of self-trust, he writes, "Wearied 
with the indolence of the cloister, a company of 
monks went forth to convert the heathen. They 
were vigorous men who seemed capable of enduring 
any inclemency, and skilful, for they had never been 
worsted in controversy. They were also numerous, 
and they deemed that their numbers gave them 
strength. The language was quickly mastered, and 
they preached eloquently the truths they had trav- 
elled to impart. Yet few received their doctrine, 
many persecuted them, and often the missionaries 
suffered hunger, nakedness, and cold. Disease broke 
out among them, and one by one the members of the 
company were carried to the grave. Two only were 
left, and one of them was at the point of death. As 
his companion anxiously watched beside him, a gleam 
passed over the sufferer's countenance, and the 
mourner bent to receive his parting words. ' My 
brother,' said the dying man, 'we have trusted in 
ourselves, but although you are left alone, God loves 
you, and He will bless you.' 

*' From the grave of his departed friend the sur- 



Essay. 2$ 

vivor turned into the woods to meditate upon his 
words. His emotions could find no utterance but 
in prayer. He knelt down and poured forth the 
anguish of his soul to God. Earnestly he wrestled 
in spirit, and implored the divine aid and blessing, 
when it seemed as if some one touched him, bidding 
him rise, and telling him he had come to help him. 
The two went forth together to the heathen camps, 
and wherever the mysterious stranger appeared the 
people flocked around him, wept as they heard his 
beautiful words, believed, and were converted. 

" In the morning he had disappeared, and the 
missionary remembered how in his vision a light had 
seemed to surround him, and a voice had said, ' Even 
as I have been with thee now, so in spirit am I with 
thee always ; trust only in Me.' " 

" Look not to man in the work," said George Fox, 
** nor to man who opposeth the work, but rest in the 
will of the Lord." 

One more extract must suffice, affording a picture 
of the state of the Society of Friends in some districts 
at the time it was written. 

" Crossing the bleak and uncultivated Radnor 
Forest, about ten miles east of the picturesque falls 
of the Wye at Rhayader, the traveller may see high 
up on the mountain a lone Meeting House of the So- 
ciety of Friends. Within the memory of many there 
was here a flourishing congregation. Now the meet- 
ing can hardly be said to exist. One infirm, lame old 
man, disowned by the Society on account of marry- 
ing a non-member, still crosses the hills at the hour 
of worship to sit there alone with God. Where, we 



26 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

naturally enquire, are the descendants of those sim- 
ple mountaineers who here worshipped in spirit and 
in truth, and realised the privilege of the child of 
;God being taught of the Father ? " 

Thank God we can now give an answer to this 
question. The Spirit of God has been poured forth 
afresh on the people in those Radnorshire valleys. 
Many of them have been converted through the 
ministry of Friends, and the little congregation, 
that v.'hen Stanley Pumphrey penned these lines 
V\^as flickering and ready to die, has now forty mem- 
bers, besides many attenders, and many of these 
members are taking an active part in the service 
of the church. 

Stanley Pumphrey would gladly, at this time, 
have devoted himself to literature rather than trade. 
In the earlier part of his apprenticeship he was too 
much inclined to consider the common duties of 
business life as drudgery. His father's high-toned 
example, shrewd counsel and common sense, helped, 
however, to maintain the balance for his somewhat 
ambitious son, and Stanley readily accepted the ju- 
dicious advice given him to remain awhile in busi- 
ness, and undoubtedly reaped benefit from the prac- 
itical training and acquaintance with life which he 
jthus received. 

j An old Wesleyan minister, then living in Worces- 
ter, greatly helped the ironmonger's apprentice with 
wise counsel. Able to sympathise with the spiritual 
yearnings of the young man, Stanle)" found the pas- 
toral care of the old man very valuable. To him the 
young man opened his heart, and while the Wesleyan 



Apprenticeship. 27 

made no attempt to proselyte, he rendered service 
never to be forgotten. 

Not only was Stanley Pumphrey turning his atten- 
tion to literature, enriching himself with Milton's 
Prose Works, and other standard authors, but there 
was welling up in his heart a " call," more and more 
distinct, to become a minister of the Everlasting 
Gospel. As a member of the Society of Friends, he 
had been trained from childhood to attend their 
meetings, in which there is no humanly appointed 
minister or pastor, but where there is the " liberty of 
prophesying," for all who are moved thereto by the 
Spirit of God. 

Before Stanley ever opened his mouth in the min- 
istry he earnestly prayed that God would bestow the 
gift upon him, and there were many thoughts towards 
it stirring deeply within him, to which he thus gives 
expression: — 

*' We need faithful and earnest labourers who shall 
not fear discouragement, but shall go forth to the 
conflict in that trust which animated Jonathan when, 
single-handed, he withstood the host of the Philis- 
tines in the assured conviction that with his God 
there was no restraint to save by many or by few. 
In this field I believe that, unworthy as I am, I shall 
be called to labour. By the mouth of one of his 
servants the Lord has promised that He, will bless 
me, that He will make me a blessing unto others, 
and will enable me to confess His name. Even now 
already I have felt the call, but I have shrunk back 
in fear. If talents have been bestowed upon me, 
time and opportunity will be added for their exercise, 



28 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

and if called to labour, my prayers ascend to that 
* Holy Spirit who is able to enrich with all utterance 
and knowledge, and sends forth his seraphim with 
the hallowed fire of his altar to touch and sanctify 
the lips of whom he pleases.' " * 

Feeling thus in the First Month of 1857, we find 
him writing again in the last month of the same year 
on the same subject : — 

*' Last First Day I felt the call to speak as a min- 
ister in one of our meetings for worship. Among 
many highly-favoured meetings, that was perhaps 
the most blessed I have known. Early in its course 
I seemed to receive an assurance I might not doubt 
that an earnest prayer I raised just as the year came 
in, that if it pleased the Lord I might ere its close 
be called to the ministry, should be answered. Then 
a season of prayer followed during which, under the 
feeling that the Spirit was indeed helping my infirm- 
ity, I prayed for myself and others who are dear to 
me and for the Church of God ; and afterwards I 
was favoured to be instructed respecting the Saviour 
in a manner that I think I never have known before. 
The errors of Unitarianism seemed to stand in naked- 
ness before me, and the many texts of vScripture 
which treat of the divinity of the Lord crowded on 
my mind so that I could not doubt that He was in- 
deed God over all, blessed for ever. As it was the 
will of the Father when the First Begotten came into 
the world that all the angels of God should worship 
Him, much more was that adoration due from us, 

* Milton's Prose Works. 



Apprenticeship. 29 

and much more ought we to bow the knee at the 
name of Jesus, and confess Him Lord to the glory of 
God the Father. I cannot describe the rapturous 
joy I felt. Emotions such as the Holy Spirit raises 
beggar all description, and in order that any idea 
may be formed of them I am certain they must be 
known. My whole soul was filled with the love of 
Christ and with confidence in Him, and I felt able 
to use in all their force the emphatic words of the 
Apostle, ^Who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, 
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, 
in all these things we are more than conquerors 
through Him that loved us.' And again, ' I am per- 
suaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love 
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Then 
came a calm, and in the midst of that an emotion 
strong and powerful such as the Scripture alludes to 
when it says, *■ The Spirit of the Lord came mightily 
upon him, and he prophesied,' and I felt that I 
might not refuse to utter the words then brought 
before me, ' The love of Christ constraineth us ; 

BECAUSE WE THUS JUDGE, THAT IF ONE DIED FOR ALL, 
THEN WERE ALL DEAD : AND THAT He DIED FOR ALL, 
THAT THEY WHICH LIVE SHOULD NOT HENCEFORTH 
LIVE UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO HiM WHICH DIED 

FOR THEM, AND ROSE AGAIN.' When I sat down, 
though trembling under the consciousness of in- 
creased responsibility, I felt calmness and joy, and 



30 Memories of Stanley Pu7nphrey. 

the assurance was given me that so He gives to His 
beloved peace. 

" What an infinitely high privilege it is to be the 
' beloved ' of God ; and yet it is what He would fain 
have us all to be, w^hat we ought all of us to aspire to, 
yes, even to be like Daniel ^greatly beloved ' of Him. 

"I have felt it to be cause for very great thank- 
fulness that my first words should be a testimony to 
Jesus Christ, w^hose servant I desire to be, and fer- 
vently w^ould I pray that I might not live to myself, 
but to Him who died for me, proclaiming the glad 
tidings of His Gospel, leading wanderers back again 
to His fold of peace, testifying fully and unflinch- 
ingly concerning His everlasting truth, and all 
through the grace and power that He giveth, that 
He alone may be glorified forever. Since then, I 
have not felt my Saviour so near me as I could wish, 
and the adversary tries me with doubts and discour- 
agements, and suggests that I cannot be sufficient 
for these things. But I believe this is only a pass- 
ing cloud. I trust I may say that I know in whom 
I have believed, that my Beloved is mine and I am 
His, and He is able and more than willing, to keep 
that which I have committed unto Him." 

Thus the boy-preacher tells of his call to the Gos- 
pel ministry under the constraining love of Christ. 
Throughout the remainder of his life the motive 
power in all his ministry was the echo of these first 
words, '' The love of Christ constraineth me ;" and 
more and more it became evident that he was living 
not unto himself, but unto Christ who died for him 
and rose again. 



Apprenticeship. 3 1 

Stanley Pumphrey at that time longed to relin- 
quish business, and devote himself to the office of 
Lecturer. It was just one of those struggles between 
two paths which so often come to young men, as the 
consciousness of mental power opens before them, 
and an ardent desire springs up within them to live 
for some good and holy purpose. As years roll 
on they learn that they can serve the Lord best in 
the humbler path of daily duties faithfully fulfilled. 
But inasmuch as this struggle was a very real one, 
it is well to see how it was met. The calmly bal- 
anced counsel of his uncle Thomas Pumphrey, su- 
perintendent of Ackworth School, went far to keep 
his aspiring nephew on the right track. Under date 
3rd, Eighth Month, 1858, Thomas Pumphrey thus 
writes : — 

'' Thou hast been much and frequently in my 
thoughts since the receipt of thy letter, which could 
not fail to call forth feelings of lively interest and 
warm affection. It is to me a comfort of no ordinary 
kind to see my young friends, and especially those 
who are so dear to me as thou and thy sisters are, 
bending under the power rather than the weight of 
the cross of Christ, feeling that they are not their 
own, and in the sense of what they owe to their 
Saviour earnestly enquiring ' How can I best serve 
the Lord ? ' This, I believe, is thy present position, 
and I would encourage thee to cherish it, to abide 
under that exercise of spirit before the Lord in 
which we are quick to hear His voice, and are pre- 
served in a state of readiness to obey. I would not 
turn thee away from the serious prayerful consider- 



32 Memories of Stanley PumpJirey, 

ation of the subject of thy future course as a lec- 
turer, but I entreat thee to ponder it well. I am not 
prepared at present to give it the sanction of my 
judgment, but I think whatever may be the issue, 
thou hast wisely decided not to enter upon it yet. 
Time and observation will enlarge thy experience of 
men and things, and if thou art preserved in humil- 
ity, will deepen thy knowledge of thy own heart. 
That lectures should be thoroughly imbued with the 
Christian spirit is of the highest importance, espe- 
cially those on history and literature. They are 
become in the present day a powerful means of in- 
fluencing mind. William Allen's lectures on Chemis- 
try, Anatomy, &c., to the students at Guy's Hospital 
were vei*y powerful for good, not only in neutral- 
izing the infidelity which in the first five and twenty 
years of the present century was leavening the minds 
and characters of those young men, but also in es- 
tablishing in the hearts of not a few a real love of 
the Gospel. But he was not itinerant, and much of 
his power depended on that respect for his character 
intellectually, morally, and religiously, which an en- 
larged acquaintance with him induced, and which 
deepened as it enlarged. I do not think it possible 
that apart from the influence of personal character 
the same ability would have produced a similar 
result. 

" I would have thee carefully consider the effect 
w4iich such an occupation Avould be likely to have 
on thy own mind, whether it would probably feed 
or famish the sins which most easily beset thee As 
a schoolboy thou occasioned us here little trouble 



Apprenticeship, 33 

or anxiety, but if my observations were correct (and 
I found they were in accordance with those of our 
friends at Bootham) thy obvious besetment was a 
love of display. There was an evident consciousness 
of mental, and perhaps even of moral superiority, 
which though it was always under the control of 
good sense and of a well cultivated mind, so as to 
prevent it becoming ridiculous, often excited the 
smile of thy seniors, and led them to endeavour in 
various ways to counteract and discourage it, I have 
no doubt with considerable success. 

** Still I can believe that it may still be one of the 
enemies of thy own house, and it has appeared to 
me that perhaps few occupations would be more 
calculated to cherish its growth than lecturing. That 
the lecturer is superior to those he is instructing, at 
least in the subject of his instruction, seems almost 
implied. Then to give effect by style and action and 
deportment seems allowable if not desirable. We 
want to impress, we are called upon to use the 
means we possess to produce the impression. There 
is nothing wrong in this in itself, but with minds 
constituted as some are, as I think thine to a con- 
siderable extent is, the personal danger is great ; 
with others, William Allen for instance, it would fall 
almost harmless. 

*' Again, I say, I would not divert thy attention 
from what thou apprehends is spread before thee as 
the path of duty at some future day. I only want 
thee to consider its various bearings and to take a 
comprehensive view of it. The right exercise of the 
understanding in the things of God and in the 



34 Memories of Stanley Puinphrey. 

things which pertain to our spiritual course is of 
great moment. A sanctified and enlightened under- 
standing is subjected, not destroyed, by the Holy 
Spirit, and the exercise of the one in Christian hu- 
mility, is quite compatible with the unfettered guid- 
ance of the other. ' I use my knowledge and skill 
and experience,' said a pious medical man, * in the 
treatment of my patients as though everything de- 
pended on me ; I pray for the divine blessing on the 
means used as though everything depended upon 
God.' I think I would encourage a little more time 
at business. The man who mixes v/ith the world 
learns a great deal more of the world's character, 
its maxims, its principles of action, its necessities, 
than the student or the recluse. I always look back 
to my business experience as of a highly valuable 
and practical character, and I regard it as an impor- 
tant element in whatever qualifications I possess for 
my present post. I would assiduously cultivate my 
mind, enlarge and systematize, or rather arrange its 
stores. 

" Knowledge of all kinds comes in useful, when 
wisdom is building. The propriety of taking a 
course at the University is deserving of considera- 
tion, but I would say ' not yet' Thou wilt better 
estimate thy own wants awhile hence than at pres- 
ent, because thy views will probably be more clearly 
defined, and thou wilt have had more opportunity of 
taking thy intellectual stock." 

Stanley Pumphrey v/isely accepted this counsel as 
conclusive for the time being, and continued in 
business. 



CHAPTER III. 



LIFE IN DUBLIN. 



Early in the year 1858, having served his appren- 
ticeship faithfully at Worcester, Stanley Pumphrey 
took a situation at Edmundson & Co.'s, Ironmon- 
gers, Capel Street, Dublin, where an enlarged sphere 
of usefulness soon opened before him. At the com- 
mencement of his career in Ireland, he says : — 

*' I earnestly desire that I may be enabled to do 
the work of an evangelist, and to make full proof of 
my ministry, that whatever work God has for me in 
Dublin may be done." 

He attended the meetings for Christian fellowship 
and Scripture study, at Henry Bewley's, at Willow 
Park, and took part in them, realizing the presence 
and power of the Lord there. On New Year's Day, 
i860, he thus summarizes his position in Dublin : — 

*' I received the call to the ministry two years ago, 
but it was not until the Dublin Yearly Meeting of 
1859 that I began to speak frequently in any but a 
private way. That summer was a time of great en- 
largement and happiness." 

He then refers to the practical difficulties of a 
Christian business man, and his conflict in business, 
in words which find an echo in the experience of 
many a young man : — ■ 



36 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

*' I have much sin to deplore, and it seems of late 
to have gained a deeper hold upon me. I need 
especially to guard my temper, for I have been 
repeatedly provoked to anger. The temptations of 
business are manifold. It is difficult to maintain 
constantly the diligence I owe to my employers. 
It is difficult always to keep within the bounds of 
truth. It is difficult to fulfil our promises. It is 
difficult to avoid feeling angry when more is thrown 
on me than I think is fair, and when others are un- 
willing to discharge what I believe to be their duty. 
It is very difficult to maintain towards a troublesome 
customer love and patience, and towards a proud 
customer meekness. But victory is promised through 
Christ, and I desire not to leave this post till I have 
gained it, so that I may be able to bear a practical 
testimony to the all-sufficiency of our Redeemer." 

Queries for his own conduct as a young man 
follow : — 

" Have I kept my body in subjection, not unduly 
indulging it ? 

" Have I kept my temper in subjection both in my 
intercourse with my associates and our customers ? 

'' Have I been diligent in business ? 

*' Have I earnestly sought to serve the Lord ? 

" Has love been the covering of my spirit ? " 

He then bows before the Lord in prayer and thus 
feelingly lays his desires before God : — 

" Do Thou, O Heavenly Father, for Thy dear Son's 
sake, be pleased to look down upon me. Help me 
to lay aside all impure motives. May the bonds that 
have restrained me be loosened so that I may preach 



Life m Dublin, 37 

the Gospel of Christ with more of the Spirit's power, 
that I may be made a blessing and glorify God. May 
divine wisdom direct my footsteps. May Thy love 
and the love of my brother man alone find place 
within my heart. Help me to plead for truth and 
righteousness. Give me something, I pray Thee, of 
the prophet's spirit. O Lord, I am but a child for 
this great work. Give me a continual sense of 
weakness and of need, that I may run to Thee for 
help. Give wisdom, O Lord, I pray Thee. Help 
me to speak so that man may hear and be instructed. 
Help me to speak with power and with love. Help 
me at all times to speak as becomes a disciple of the 
Lord Jesus. I bring my gifts to Thee, O Heavenly 
Father, increase them if it please Thee, or at least 
sanctify them, that in the exercise of them Thou 
only mayst be glorified." 

The intense love of nature, and enjoyment of 
mountain scenery, found many a gratification in 
Stanley's Dublin life. On the Saturday half-holiday, 
or an occasional day for recreation, he would be off, 
with some young man as companion, to Wicklow. 
On his arrival in Dublin, Donati's magnificent comet 
was a prominent object in the North-Western 
heavens, and many an evening walk he took to ad- 
mire it. Sometimes he would be off before daylight 
to enjoy the sunrise from a mountain height, or 
spend the summer's noon, with his friend John Bew- 
ley Beale, in the shelter of the quiet woods, drink- 
ing in the harmony and beauty of such spots as the 
Dargle, or the Devil's Glen, with the river making 
refreshing music at their feet. Or, on a promising 



38 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

afternoon away to some hilltop, like Killiney or 
the Sugar Loaf, to revel in the cloud pictures and 
splendours of a glorious sunset. These rambles 
were not confined to the summer and autumn. In 
mid-winter, with the snow deeply covering the 
ground, they would visit Powers-Court Waterfall, 
transformed from its usual aspect into a wonderful 
scene of beauty, looking like imposing temples and 
grottoes, with combinations of frozen foam and mas- 
sive pillars of ice. The picturesque valley of Glen- 
dalough was visited under similar circumstances, 
with its ruined churches, lakes, and surrounding 
mountains, the snow in the brilliant moonlight caus- 
ing every rock and ruin to stand out in strong relief, 
such seasons often appropriately closing with vocal 
prayer and praise. 

In the summer of 1859, Stanley spent his vacation 
in England, and greatly enjoyed his visit home. He 
attended the Friends' General Meeting at Ross, 
which was a time of special blessing. Early in the 
morning before the meetings commenced, he made 
his way, with a beloved companion, into one of the 
woods on the steep hillside, out of town, and there 
both knelt in prayer for themselves and for the wel- 
fare of the Church of Christ. Stanley writes : — 

*' That day I shall very long remember. I most 
surely believe the prayers there raised will be richly 
answered by our Father in heaven. How delightful 
it is to think that not one request is forgotten by 
God. Our meetings seemed full of the presence of 
the Lord, and I thought His grace was delightfully 
manifested in the words that were spoken. Many 



Life in Dublin. 39 

of the Lord's children were there, and their hearts 
were full of love. No love is so refreshing as the 
love that flows from love to Christ." 

On the same journey, Stanley again visited Ro- 
chester, concerning which he gives an equally bright 
record : — 

J *' My visit there gave me very great joy. My 
dearest Ellen's character seems unfolding most 
beautifully — so thoughtful, gentle, and abounding in 
love. I cannot doubt that she is one of the tenderly 
beloved children of our heavenly Father, and I feel 
sure that He will make her for me all that I require. 
With my father's approval I mentioned to William 
Horsnaill my attachment for his daughter, and he 
set meat liberty to address her on the subject. I 
have since received a very nice letter from Ellen, 
wholly satisfactory. God has done better for me 
than I devised. She professes her high esteem for 
me, but I think she is quite right in declining, in a 
matter of so much importance, to come to a decided 
conclusion yet. She reminds me how very little 
intercourse we have had, and candidly unfolds to me 
the side of her character which I could not have seen, 
telling me that if I knew her as she knows herself, I 
should have difficulty in finding anything to esteem 
or love, and expressing her fear that she would be a 
hindrance rather than a help to me in the right way. 
Our sense of weakness will, I believe, draw us closer 
together, and in the effort to overcome our mutual 
failings, we shall have a very intimate bond of union. 
It is delightful to feel that it is of the Lord that we 
have thus been brought into communion with each 



40 Memories of St a ft ley Pumphrey. 

other. The future, as I have told her, is hidden 
from me. 

** Leave the future — let it rest 

Simply on Tliy Saviour's will ; 
Leave the future — they are best 
Who, confiding, hoping still, 

Ti'ust His mercy 
To preserve them safe from ill." 

His heart then turns towards his work in Ireland 
in connection with the ministry of the Gospel, which 
was growing upon him. He found that a young 
preacher has special temptations to cope with, some- 
times from the kind attention and marks of respect 
and popularity from young and old, and at other 
times from the coarse criticism of unsympathizing 
companions, or the well-meant suggestions of un- 
authorized advisers. He says : — 

'* My heart feels drawn in very tender affection to 
the Friends of Dublin Meeting with earnest desires 
for their everlasting welfare. I do long to help 
them and to be made a blessing to them, but I am 
very weak. I am afraid lest they should condemn 
me, some of them, for pressing too forward. I hope 
that I shall be very watchful not to give offence to 
any, and that in life and conversation, as well as in 
the preaching of the Word, I may show unmistak- 
ably whose I am. I think I have felt more than ever 
that God has placed me here, and I have no doubt 
that He will give me more service both privately and 
publicly amongst the Dublin Friends. I fervently 
desire that it may ever be performed in His strength 
alone." 



Life in Dublin, 41 

It was not all smooth sailing with regard to his 
ministry in meetings in Dublin. He had spoken 
frequently for some months, when he suddenly be- 
came entirely silent, and not one word was heard 
from him for a long time. Meeting him one day 
walking down Capel Street, dear Richard Allen said 
to him, *' Stanley, how is it that thou hast become so 
silent in meetings ? thou used to be heard frequently, 
and as far as I know acceptably." 

Stanley replied, " I thought, Richard Allen, that I 
saw with clearness, Vv^ith as much clearness as ever I 
saw anything, that I had a call to the ministry, but 
I received such a rebuke that it silenced me, and I 
feel as though I never could rise above it." 

" Wilt thou tell me freely whom it came from ? " 
enquired the old man. 

Stanley hesitated, and again Richard Allen queried, 
" Was it from an Irish Friend ? " 

*' No, it was nots" 

"Then," answered Richard Allen, "I know all 

about it. It was from , and it should not 

have troubled thee for one hour. Thou dost not 
know him. He has long been a trouble to Friends, 
and he is skilled at hitting at the most tender spot, 
and thou may dismiss his rebuke entirely from thy 
mind, and go on with the work to which I believe 
thou hast been called." 

Stanley took heart again, and soon gave evidence 
that he was called to the work. 

The Irish Revivals at that time were awakening 
much attention. Thousands assembled in the open 
air to hear the Gospel at Londonderry and Bally- 



42 Memories of Sta7tley Pumphrey . 

mena. The spirit of prayer was remarkably poured 
out on the people. Working men at Belfast met 
daily during their dinner hour and formed a circle 
for prayer on their knees on the grass in the Park. 
Conversion became the topic of conversation in the 
railway cars. Little children by the roadside were 
sitting down studying their Bibles. Young converts 
went hither and thither with the Good News, and 
found large audiences awaiting them. Stanley Pum- 
phrey writes respecting this remarkable work : — 

" The revivals in the North are, I am more and 
more persuaded, cause for reverent wonder and 
praise. Sinners are being turned to righteousness, 
and the love of Christ abounds ; and there is so much 
that is almost entirely independent of human instru- 
mentality that God cannot but receive the glory. I 
have felt rather more reconciled to the physical phe- 
nomena, they are not peculiar to this visitation. 
There are notices of similar phenomena under the 
preaching of the early Friends ; and James Back- 
house remarks that it is the natural result of sud- 
den spiritual awakening upon an excitable tempera- 
ment, and that he has witnessed the same in South 
Africa. Evil is doubtless in some degree mingled in 
,this great work, — but where is it not ? " 
1 The Christian Churches in Dublin were also at 
'that time experiencing a renewal of spiritual life, 
awakening to the consciousness that the life of the 
iChristian should be something more than the quiet 
enjoyment of religious privileges. Many young men 
among Friends gave their hearts definitely to Christ. 
William Tanner, Joseph Thorp, and others of the 



Life in Dublin. 43 

Lord's servants, visited them and clearly presented 
the Gospel, and many entered into the joy of faith. 

Bible-classes, meetings of young men for united 
prayer and the private study of the Scriptures were 
inaugurated. Another important result was the open- 
ing of the Friend's First-Day School in Dublin, a 
movement which has developed into a large insti- 
tution embracing a variety of Christian work. In 
all these efforts Stanley Pumphrey took an active 
part. He was one of the four or five young men 
who. commenced the First-Day School, and undoubt- 
edly his preparation for the class and his keen in- 
terest in the scholars, were a material help to him- 
self. At Band of Hope meetings, and Literary 
reunions, he was always a welcome guest. He gave 
lectures for the Mutual Improvement Association, 
on Dante's Divt?ta Comedta, on the prose writings of 
Milton, on Blaise Pascal, and St. John Chrysostom. 
In Dublin his conversational powers were also de- 
veloped. He added to the life of many a social 
party, and was eagerly sought for, but his con- 
versation was characterized more by its heartiness 
and thoughtfulness, than by any desire merely to 
amuse. 

It has been one of the excellent arrangements of 
the Society of Friends for generations, that minis- 
ters from time to time, should pay what are known 
as '' Family visits " to the members, for the purpose 
of individual dealing with souls. During his resi- 
dence in Dublin, Stanley Pumphrey received such a 
visit from Benjamin Seebohm. 

He had been feeling his loneliness as a minister 



44 Memories of Stanley PtimpJirey. 

and discouraged that he made so little headway, and 
as the veteran soldier of Christ sat quietly with the 
young minister, he delivered to him the following 
message, as both believed under the direct prompt- 
ing of the Spirit of God : — 

" I may remind thee that while we can do little for 
one another, there is One who can supply all our need 
according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ. I 
have felt it a great privilege to be caled to labour 
among my friends, and especially rejoice to meet 
with those who in early youth, in the very morning 
of their day, are by the grace of God enabled to ac- 
cept the offers of mercy and to give their hearts to 
Him. I am comforted in believing that not only is 
this the case with thee, but that God who has called 
thee by His grace, and revealed His Son in thee, has 
also constrained thee under a measure of the holy 
anointing, which is truth and no lie, to make public 
profession of His name, and to testify to the riches 
of the everlasting Gospel. In preparing thee for 
this, the Lord has called Thee to pass through many 
conflicts, and thou must expect to pass through more. 
The adversary of our souls is strong and subtle. 
Those whom he has in vain endeavoured to exalt 
above measure, he tries to cast down in despair. He 
tries to persuade them that their sins have separated 
between their souls and God, and that God has de- 
parted from them for ever. All our former seasons 
of divine favour he hides in oblivion, and sometimes 
tempts us to believe that in speaking in the assem- 
blies of the people, when we may have done so under 
much weakness and fear, we have blasphemed the 



Life in Dublin. 45 

name of God or have acted presumptuously. If such 
should ever be the case with thee, and thou shouldst 
know what it is to turn from one side to another and 
find no comfort, thou must not account it as though 
any new or strange thing happened unto thee. Such 
has been the experience of very many of the Lord's 
servants, whom the Lord has nevertheless lifted up 
again. It was when the prophet retained no strength, 
and all his comeliness was turned within him to cor- 
ruption, that the angel of the Lord was sent to him, 
bidding him be strong, for he was greatly beloved, 
and bearing to him wonderful truths and consolation, 
which have been the comfort of many generations 
even to our own day. Thus, I believe, it may be 
with thee, and that out of these deep baptisms thou 
shalt be called to minister more abundantly, and to 
shine more brightly as a light in the world. If it 
should be so, thou wilt know that the glory is the 
Lord's alone. All that is of the flesh must be brought 
low before Him. Thou must learn to lean less upon 
thy own natural powers, and trust in the direction 
and help of the good Spirit. The higher we ascend 
the ladder of Christian experience the more deeply 
are we humbled before God. It remains to be a 
truth that a good man's steps are ordered of the 
Lord. I believe that God will guide thee in His 
providence. Thou must not regard too much what 
man may say, either as to what thou ought to do, or 
ought not to do. Thy eye must be unto the Lord, 
and thou must strive to do His will, not caring for 
the reproach of men, but fulfilling every secret in- 
timation of the divine will. Thus I believe thou wilt 



46 Memories of Stanley Pinnphrey. 

be made to shine brightly and be enabled to advo- 
cate the cause so dear to thee, the cause of our God 
and of His Christ, thy desires be fulfilled, and thou 
be made a good soldier of the Lamb, thy riches in 
Christ be abundantly increased, so that in a spiritual 
sense thy barns shall be filled with plenty and thy 
presses burst with new wine. I feel the springs of 
encouragement flowing towards thee in an unusual 
way. It may be that these words shall return for 
thy consolation in days of trial yet to come, and that 
thou mayst remember even then, that a poor and 
weak fellow-servant has felt the message of encour- 
agement given him to bear to thee, and the word 
now spoken may prove as bread cast upon the w^aters, 
to be found after many days." 

This inter^'iew greatly helped Stanley Pumphrey, 
and is in itself a specimen of a line of service and of 
ministrv' none too common. It came at the very end 
of three years of Dublin experiences, and in a few 
weeks he moved to England. But Ireland henceforth 
lay very^ near his heart. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CIRENCESTER. 



In the spring of 1861 Stanley Pumphrey moved to 
Cirencester, entering into partnership as an iron- 
monger with William Alexander, under the style of 
Alexander and Pumphrey. His Dublin experiences 
had doubtless materially helped to ripen and enlarge 
his mind, and on settling down at Cirencester it 
soon became evident that his views and tone of 
thought had undergone a marked change. His 
way of looking at things had become much health- 
ier. He no longer speaks of business as drudg- 
ery. He no longer has the vague restless ambi- 
tion to become a poet. He relinquishes the long 
cherished idea of devoting himself to lecturing, 
and has become the thoughtful, intelligent, cheer- 
ful, business man whom it was a pleasure to 
meet, because his Christianity shone out through 
his every day life. For despite any former dis- 
inclination for business, Stanley Pumphrey was 
soon the closely occupied business man. Natu- 
rally industrious, "What is worth doing at all is 
worth doing well," and "Whatsoever ye do, do 
it heartily, as unto the Lord," might well have 
been the maxims of his life. With the quiet set- 
tling down to trade came a great change for the 



48 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

better in many ways. There was less self-inspec- 
tion and introversion, less sentiment, and more 
thorough ability and spiritual vigour and strength. 
Henceforth his words are characterized by much 
shrewd wisdom and common sense, and very 
bright and joyous years were spent at Cirences- 
ter. On writing to one of his chosen friends on 
first settling there, he thus expresses the change 
in his views : — 

" Our heavenly Father has taught us that although 
it is through much tribulation that we enter the 
Kingdom, it is not His will that we should go for- 
ward moaning on our way. He has also taught 
us that we must not wait till we are fit to come to 
Him before we do so, since at our very best we 
can only come by the hand of a Mediator. He 
has taught us also, has he not ? that we must not 
wait until we are perfect before we serv^e Him, but 
that now, CA^en now, in the ability he giveth, ever 
looking unto Him, w^e must do what we can, faith- 
ful in the little before we are rulers over much, 
and that those who teach differently, though they 
may not think so, are casting stumbling-blocks 
in their brothers' way, and are serving the prince 
of darkness and not the Prince of Light. 

" This is strong language, but it requires strong 
language to express what I feel with regard to the 
error of those Avho have misguided thee, and who, 
if the Lord had not had mercy upon thee, would 
have deprived the church of service which she 
cannot afford to lose. I pray God that every scale 
Qf error may be taken from our eyes, and that we 



Cirencester. 49 

may know the truth and hold the truth, and that 
the truth may make us free. 

"The assurance is often given me when I bow be- 
fore His mercy seat that He will graciously make 
use of me and send me forth and endue me with 
the power of His Spirit to preach the Gospel. I 
am so thankful to Him that He kept me from having 
any lower aim, it is so emphatically the best calling. 
What is lecturing, authorship, or social reform, com- 
pared with making known unto the heirs of immor- 
tality the way of everlasting life ? I am increasingly 
persuaded that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
Until He come I would gladly spend all the best 
strength of my days in making known to others the 
riches of the salvation that there is in Him." 

It was a great change from the large household in 
Capel Street, Dublin, to the bachelor lodgings on 
Cicely Hill, Cirencester. Bat even in lodgings he 
must find ways and means to have company, and 
soon a letter was sent to his two younger sisters, *' I 
want you to be my first visitors. It is only proper 
that Caroline's first visit on leaving school should be 
to me. I want you to see what sort of place I am 
in, and what nice friends I have round me ; and if 
you will come at once, you will catch the Park in the 
full glory of its autumn colouring." 

Lord Bathurst's extensive Park, so generously 
open to the public, was a constant pleasure to him. 
His first lodgings were almost close to its gates. 
The regular fine-weather walk on First Day was 
across the Park, when the gates, always closed dur- 
ing hours of public worship, were generally opened 
3 



50 Memories of Sta7iley Pumphrey. 

first for the Friends. He loved to explore it 
thoroughly, and soon knew where the toothwort was 
to be found, or the finest bird's-nest orchises grew, 
as well as any botanist in the neighbourhood, and 
was probably more familiar than they with the wild 
beauty of the Cathedral Firs by moonlight, and the 
loveliness that hung at sunset over the ten converg- 
ing avenues. A warm lover of flowers rather than a 
scientific botanist, to look for frittilarias at Oaksey, 
and lilies at Sapperton, became almost annual excur- 
sions. The latter spot, standing near the head of the 
Stroud valley, was his favourite pic-nic, and the 
stately beech tree on the hill slope, which he boasted 
was the finest in England, was specially enjoyed as 
being the most beautiful illustration he knew of the 
luxuriance of "the tree planted by the rivers of 
water." It was to these woods that he introduced 
his sisters on a beautiful autumn Sabbath, and asso- 
ciated their loveliest glades with some of his favour- 
ite psalms. Turning, as he used to do, from nature 
to nature's God, he repeated, " Bless the Lord, O 
my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great ; 
thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who 
coverest thyself with light as with a garment ; who 
stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. Who laid 
the foundations of the earth that it should not be 
removed for ever. He watereth the hills from his 
chambers ; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy 
works. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever, 
the Lord shall rejoice in his works. My meditation 
of him shall be sweet, I will be glad in the Lord." 
— Ps. civ. 



Cirencester. 51 

The sisters' happy visit was a short one, but it was 
not long before his sister Helen was back again, 
''thinking little, dear girl," he wrote, "of the long 
days she must spend by herself, for the sake of 
brightening my few evening hours." 

He kept early hours ; breakfast at seven and to 
business at eight o'clock, summer and winter, wet 
or fine. But often there were late hours too, for the 
business grew and premises had to be altered, and 
after a fire in 1870, rebuilt, all which threw much 
work and worry on the heads of the establishment. 
His was not a mind to take worries very easily. He 
liked things in order, and it fidgetted him when 
they were not. He loved punctuality, and if goods 
were not delivered to date it was a trial to his pa- 
tience. But he also loved the men and boys in his 
employ, and in return was loved and respected by 
them as "a good master" and "a good business 
man." It was a great grief to him when driving 
through heavy rain from Hatherop Castle, where 
they "were doing a lot of work for the Maharajah 
Dhuleep Singh, one of his men took cold, and was 
laid up with rheumatic fever for months. *' Poor 
Reuben ! and to think he most likely would have 
missed it, if he had only had as good a wrapper as 
I had!" ''What respectable fellows some of our 
men are ! " he said with a master's pride, as he passed 
two of them in the street on the Sabbath. "Look 
at those two men now ! Don't they look almost as 
much the gentleman as the master himself ! " 

There was warm interest felt when any of the men 
married, and kind words for their children when he 



52 Memories of Stanley PumpJirey. 

met them, and calls paid when there was illness in 
their families. " I wish I had time to see more of 
our men in their own homes," he would often say, 
*• but there's no time to call on week days, and on 
First Day they are as glad of quiet at home as I am." 
As he was proceeding to meeting one First Day 
morning he was much distressed to find that oneof 
the young men once employed in the business had 
suddenly died. Stanley had never spoken to him 
about his soul, and he feelingly remarked to a friend 
at his side, ''I find it far more difficult to speak to 
those with whom I associate daily than to address a 
houseful at a meeting, but this is a solemn warning 
to put the Master's business in the first place in our 
daily life." 

In 1862 occurred one of those deeply interesting 
episodes in church life that in some of its features is 
peculiar to the Society of Friends. 

The ''concern" of Russell Jeffrey to travel as a 
Gospel minister in India was thrown before the 
Monthly Meeting of Gloucester and Nailsworth. 
After the usual meeting for worship, Russell Jeffrey 
informed Friends that for twenty years the belief 
had rested on his mind that the Lord would call him 
to work in India, and that the recent visit to London 
of tw^o or three native enquirers from Calcutta, and 
the visit of Frederick Mackay to India, had power- 
fully revived his sense of the Lord's call. He felt 
it laid upon him to visit the enquirers in Calcutta, 
the scenes of the late mutiny, the vicinities where 
there were British and Foreign residents in Bengal 
and Madras, and the ancient Christian churches in the 



Cirencester. 53 

Bombay Presidency. He realised something of the 
danger and difficulty attending such a visit, and felt it 
might be like the laying down of his life, and yet, 
with great humility, he desired to offer himself as 
dedicated to it if it should meet with the approval 
of his friends. 

Many tears of sympathy were shed, and the emo- 
tions of many present were too strong to find utter- 
ance in words, Russell Jeffrey was an elderly man, 
were there no young men for such service ? Samuel 
Bowly of Gloucester knelt in fervent prayer for di- 
vine guidance, a prayer which evidently rose with the 
accord of the entire congregation. An unknown 
woman friend was the first to speak in terms of strong 
encouragement. 

That Quaker patriarch, Antony Fewster of Nails- 
worth, then rose and spoke approvingly, but dwelling 
cautiously on the difficulties and dangers. Samuel 
Bowly followed, appropriately and beautifully dwell- 
ing on the excellence of the work, on the goodness 
of the Master in whose service it would be per- 
formed, on the appropriateness of an upholder of the 
principles of peace going into the district of the 
mutiny where opposite principles had so largely pre- 
vailed, and on our duty in spreading the Gospel of 
our Lord. 

Stanley Pumphrey then expressed his full unity, 
quoting the words of our Lord Jesus, ''Verily I say 
unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or 
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or 
children, or lands, for My sake and the Gospel's, but 
he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, 



54 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

houses and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and 
children and lands, with persecutions ; and in the 
world to come eternal life." Stanley dwelt on ^'- the 
hundredfold 7iow," that though according to human 
calculation the balance might seem entirely in the 
other scale ; yet the servant of the Lord was so re- 
freshed with Joy from His presence, and with the con- 
solations of His Spirit, that he was enabled to testify 
to his Master's faithfulness, and to the fulfilment of 
His promise. 

Thomas Brewin quoted the great missionary charge 
of the risen Saviour, "Go ye into all the world and 
preach the Gospel to every creature." Isaac Pitt, 
Eliza Sessions and others followed in a similar strain 
of approval, and a committee was appointed to pre- 
pare a certificate for the Lord's messenger to take 
with him. Ultimately he was accompanied by Henry 
Hipsley, and William Brewin, and the service occu- 
pied two or three years, embracing a general visit to 
most of the Mission Stations in North and South 
India and Ceylon, and was of material service to the 
missionary cause. 

"Since I came to Cirencester," Stanley writes in 
1863, " I have not studied a bit. I have read no stan- 
dard author, and can tell nothing of literary progress. 
I have written nothing but letters. Whether I shall 
ever study again is uncertain, and as to authorship, 
it is quite amusing to talk about it. Years ago my 
ambition was fired by thoughts about 'gifts that 
ought not to be buried,' and 'talents,' and I had no 
more sense than to think myself a genius ! I have 
given up all thoughts of becoming a great gun long 



Cirencester. 55 

since, and / have laid my ambition in its shroud. There 
may it rest in peace ! Not that I give up thoughts 
of usefulness. I do not wish to settle on my lees. 
Labour for the honour of Christ is my highest ideal 
of man's happiness." 

" How tantalizing it is to have good books in the 
house and not to have time to look at them," he 
would remark as some book from the Reading So- 
ciety lay on the sideboard, adding, "Do read it for 
me, and tell me all about it." 

Perhaps some may v/onder where this new inspi- 
ration for work came from, and how this fine liealthy 
breeze of early manhood came to be developed. 
Coming events cast their shadows before them. 
Early in 1863 the lodgings were exchanged for a 
house of his own, and his sisters and himself were 
busy putting all in order for the expected bride. 

A newly-built house outside the town, near the re- 
mains of the Roman amphitheatre, became his resi- 
dence. The house had just been erected by the 
engine-driver on the little branch line, a thrifty, 
careful man, who used thankfully to say that he had 
never known an accident on his line. This engine- 
driver was his neighbour on the one side, while the 
Rev. J. Stratford, a Nonconformist minister, the au- 
thor of Good and Great Men of Gloucestershire^ was 
his neighbour on the other side. And very neigh- 
bourly they were. The garden walls were low 
enough to talk over, and kind services were con- 
st9,ntly passing between the different households. 
"When Stanley took the house, the garden was a 
piece of barren land, for *' You'll like to lay it out 



$6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

yourself, Mr. Pumphrey, won't you ? " said the 
thoughtful landlord. And a very pleasant garden 
Stanley and his friend, George Gillett, make of it, 
with its sheltered summerhouse in one corner, where 
they often sat down to tea, and the pretty porch, by 
tlie side of which the gloire de Dijon roses climbed; 
up to the bedroom windows, and blossomed from' 
May to December. The wall-fiowers, the evening 
primroses, the forget-me-nots, and the strawberries 
flourished under his care. There was plenty of 
stonecrop to attract the tortoiseshell butterflies, and 
larkspur to tempt the humming-bird moths. He 
would take his chair and sit for Kalf-an-hour watch- 
ing the unfolding of the evening primrose, and there 
was scarcely a flower or insect about the garden but 
was regarded as a personal acquaintance. 

Indoors and out, everything vv'as put ready for the 
bride ; and in the summer of 1863 Ellen Horsnail 
became Ellen Pumphrey. The marriage took place 
at Rochester, and the Cirencester home was more 
than ever a bright and happy spot. 

The same year Stanley was acknowledged as an 
accredited minister of the Gospel by Gloucester and 
Nailsworth Monthly Meeting. 

In the summer of 1863, he writes : — '' It is indeed 
very pleasant to be sitting down with my own dear 
wife beside me. Sometimes I feel as though I had 
nothing whatever more to wish for." And thus with 
a well-established business, a comfortable and joy- 
ous home, the approval and respect of his friends, 
and his young bride by his side to be to him as a 
bright sunbeam of happiness, Stanley Pumphrey was 



Cirencester. $y 

as one who had obtained the desires of his heart, 
and saw the fulfilment of the promise, ''Commit thy 
way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall 
bring it to pass. Delight thyself also in the Lord, 
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." 

Daily prayer in the family was his invariable cus- 
tom. He had made up his mind once for all that it 
was right, and waited for no further call. "Were I 
to wait each morning for some remarkably definite 
special call," he said, " I might wait in vain," He 
had thus escaped from the mysticism that would re- 
strain the Lord's children from child-like confidence 
in asking for the daily supply of their needs ; and 
again was fulfilled the word of the Lord, "Them 
that honour me I will honour." An old servant re- 
marks, " I shall ever thank God he lived. I remem- 
ber when I went to Cirencester what an infiiuence his 
prayers had over me, and I wished I could live such 
a good and useful life." Young men or apprentices 
were boarded in the house, and Stanley endeavoured 
to make them feel thoroughly at home, remarking 
that " Business men ought to make safe and happy 
and comfortable homes for their young men." And 
what he held in theory, he aimed to put into prac- 
tice. 

At Quarterly Meeting times his little house Avas 
stretched to its utmost capacity ; and on rarer occa- 
sions when welcoming those whom he reverenced, he 
would remark, " We are better off than Abraham, 
for we have entertained angels, and knew that we 
were doing it too." But among his guests few were 
more heartily received than the children ; from the 
3* 



58 Memories of Stanley Pumpkrey. 

young brothers-in-law, who, when at school at Ciren- 
cester, were his frequent visitors, to the nephews 
and nieces who as years ran on often brightened 
his happy home. He returned in great glee from a 
Monthly Meeting one day bringing three young visi- 
tors with him, exclaiming, ''There, my dear, I have 
brought thee three as nice little girls as ever thy 
heart need wish for, and they won't mind if thou 
puts them all three in one bed." Their happy visit 
was a time he often recalled with pleasure. " I hope 
those young things have enjoyed themselves," he 
said, when they had departed ; " 'tis certain I have 
enjoyed thejn ; they have done me a lot of good." 
And so the children's visits were looked forward to 
with great satisfaction ; and when the little nieces 
and nephews came, Stanley might be seen before 
breakfast running round the garden with them on 
his back, kissing them awake at night to see some 
rarely beautiful display of northern lights, and de- 
lighting them with stories of things seen and never 
to be seen, till one and all came to the conclusion 
that " There never was such a grand uncle as Uncle 
Stanley." 

" Josie, we saw stars running about, last night, with 
tails as long as monkeys' " he informed a young ne- 
phew, one morning after a fine shower of meteors, and 
enjoyed the straightforward reproof, "It is wicked 
to tell lies ; if stars had tails they wouldn't be stars 
any longer." 

All phenomena of this kind had a special charm 
for him. " Here's a shawl, come along ! " he shouted 
to his sister one morning as he rushed home in 



Cirencester. 59 

haste, and raced with her some way beyond the 
garden gate before he found time or breath to inform 
her that there was the loveliest little rainbow down 
to the field, and she wasn't to miss seeing it on any 
account. And there, as their shadows were cast 
from the railway bridge on the dense mist in the 
meadow below, a bright prismatic halo encircled 
them. 

A mile or two across the fields, and almost in 
view from his parlour window, was the little village 
of Siddington, whose old manor house, as well as 
Cirencester "steeple house," are familiar to the 
readers of John Roberts' lively biography. Flere 
on Sunday evenings Stanley often attended cottage 
meetings, or helped in the crowded Mission Meet- 
ing in Cricklade Street. At other times he drove to 
Woodmancote to help a good farmer in a cottage 
meeting there, or oftener still he walked the five miles, 
that man and horse should not loose their Sabbath 
rest. 

A little Bible-class was held every Tuesday even- 
ing at the house of his friend George Gillett, for 
the younger Friends of the Meeting, in which 
Stanley took an active part, and which proved very 
helpful to those who attended it. 

There was no First Day School at Cirencester 
when he first went there ; and the attempt to start 
one failed. He afterwards occasionally took a class 
composed of boys gathered from the worst parts of 
the town, at the Club-rooms on their own business 
premises. For two months every spring the little 
town of Cirencester was crowded with militia, and 



6o Memories of Stanley Piimphrey. 

Stanley took part in special meetings for them, and 
in other efforts for their welfare, bestirring himself 
to provide the British Workman and other suitable 
reading for them. 

As secretary to the Temperance Society he found 
plenty to do in arranging lectures. The lecturers 
were often entertained at his house. On Good 
Friday a large temperance tea-meeting was regularly 
held, when every corner of the large Temperance 
Hall was crowded. This handsome building was 
erected by the late Christopher Bowly, and floored 
with the wood of old beer-vats. Every summer 
there was also a great temperance fete in the Park, 
when the Band of Hope children mustered in full 
force, all involving plenty of work for the honorary 
secretary. 

A publican came to the shop one day and ordered 
a magnificent lamp to make his gin palace more 
attractive. One of the young meir took the order. 
When Stanley heard of it, he said, '' No, I can have 
nothing to do with making a gin palace attractive," 
and he went to the publican and told him he could 
not execute the order. The man was very angry, 
but Stanley's good sense and even temper won the 
day, and the publican afterwards showed his special 
respect and good will. 

In September, 1865, he visited Cornwall, in the 
service of the Gospel, in company with Henry 
Alexander. Having arrived at Penzance, Charles 
Fox and Alfred Lloyd Fox accompanied Stanley to 
the Scilly Islands. Taking the steamer they coasted 
by Mounts Bay, Mousehole, the Logan Rocks, Tol 



Cirencester. 6 1 

Peden Penwith, and Lands End, then crossing the 
beautiful blue water landed at St. Mary's. The 
next day a meeting was arranged at St. Martin's in 
the Bryonite Chapel, and another the same evening 
at Holy Vale. They rowed the following day to the 
island of Bryer, where they were gladly received by 
the pious Methodists. The people of this little island 
had suffered much for conscience sake. Their little 
chapel had been levelled to the ground, and its very 
stones appropriated to the services of a religion with 
which they had little sympathy. They then met for 
worship on the hill side, and when Richard Hicks 
opened his cottage for the meetings he received 
notice to quit, and was only allowed to remain by 
paying increased rent. They continued to meet for 
prayer in his house, and there Stanley Pumphrey 
appointed a meeting. Other meetings followed on 
Tresco, where Lucy Harris had worked lovingly 
among the people, and on St. Agnes, and again a 
large meeting at St. Mary's, in which Henry Alex- 
ander took part. Stanley's text at the meeting was, 
" Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." 
He afterwards found that this was the very text 
which Isaac Sharp had taken at the same place 
twenty years before. 

Returning to Cornwall they visited Redruth, 
where they received a cordial welcome from George 
Cornish, who was like a sympathizing father to the 
young minister. Stanley also much enjoyed the 
visit to Robert Were Fox at Penjerrick. The 



62 Memories of Stanley Piunphrey. 

estate itself is exquisitely lovely, with magnificent 
rhododendrons, araucarias and hydrangeas in the 
foreground, and a succession of charming little 
lakes among the trees in the mid -distance, as the 
valley slopes down to the sparkling sea. 

But the combination of devotion of heart to 
Christ, with great scientific attainments, made R. W. 
Fox himself a centre of interest. Though then an 
old man of seventy-seven, he abounded in conversa- 
tional talents and affability. Equally delightful was 
the visit to Charles Fox at Trebah. Stanley writes : 
— " The sun was setting, and the views of the little 
fiord were very lovely. It is wilder than the others, 
and the one I should most enjoy. It is inexpressibly 
sweet to see men in the enjoyment of almost every^- 
thing to make this life beautiful, enabled to keep 
the world in its right place, to look beyond it, and 
enjoy bright hopes of heaven." 

Various meeti:igs in Cornw^all followed, and then 
Stanley hastened home with a thankful heart ; but 
his deep interest in the simple-hearted inhabitants of 
the Scilly Islands continued after his return, and he 
actively helped in forming and replenishing a lend- 
ing library for the fishermen there. 



CHAPTER V. 

CIRENCESTER — Continued. 

The shadow of a great sorrow was stealing over the 
happy home at Cirencester. It soon became evident 
that Stanley Pumphrey's beloved wife was sinking 
in consumption. Long separations followed, while 
she was seeking health at Matlock, Torquay and 
elsewhere. 

'' Dear Ellen is very sadly," was Stanley's record in 
the New Year of 1867. " She is quite a prisoner to 
the house and hardly equal for anything. Her cough 
at times is distressing, and our rest is much broken. 
My hopes of her recovery are almost gone, and I am 
often very sad. This day week I strayed into our 
peaceful burial ground, and the words involuntarily 
came up, * In the choice of our sepulchres bury thy 
dead.' I almost wept as I thought how soon it 
might be mine to choose, and I went to the vacant 
spot beside the grave of Henry's dear mother. But 
these things are too sad to write about. * In the 
world ye shall have tribulation.' Oh, may we know 
in all their blessed significance the meaning of those 
words, ' In Me ye shall have peace.' " 

In the autumn of the same year she paid her last 
visit to Rochester, and while there became worse. 
As winter advanced she was rarely able to leave the 



64 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

house, and the couch became her continual resting- 
place. The weariness and weakness were borne 
with cheerful patience. With calm trust and re- 
pose in her heavenly Father's love, she looked for 
the still happier home to which she was so soon to 
go, and strove to cheer her husband with the assur- 
ance that He who was supporting her, would support 
him also. It was a great comfort to both of them 
that during her illness her own mother, whom they 
loved so much, was able to be with her. On the 9th of 
February she took the pen, almost for the last time, 
and wrote in her husband's album : " Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for 
ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." 

Ellen Pumphrey died on the 6th March, 1868. It 
was a terrible blow to Stanley, but he fled for refuge 
to Christ. '' I never saw any man so aged with any- 
thing," was the remark of a neighbour about a fort- 
night after her death ; and Stanley's character deep- 
ened under the heavy trial. 

A visit to the few Friends in the small Quarterly 
Meeting of Kent followed in the same year. In re- 
gard to these meetings he says, ''The continuance 
of these little meetings from one generation to an- 
other proves that there is strong vitality in the So- 
ciety of Friends, and not less surely there must be 
some grevious hindrance, or the truth would spread." 

In 1869 Stanley took a tour to Switzerland and 
Italy with his father and brother-in-law. They dis- 
tributed Gospels as they ran along ; and on arriving 
at Basle had the pleasure of meeting Mary Edmund- 



Cirencester, 6$ 

son and her family, and Eliza Wigham, of Edinburgh. 
Taking the steamer along Lake Lucerne, they went 
over the St. Gothard Pass to Italy. The head of the 
Pass is a large plateau containing two lakes covered 
with ice and snow, and encircled by an amphitheatre 
of snowy mountains. Amongst these are the great 
watersheds of Europe. **The grandest part of the 
ride," writes Stanley, ''is the passage of the Ticino 
with its hundreds of waterfalls, called the ' Val 
Tremola,' from the dizzy descent. 

"At the foot of the St. Gothard there was prob- 
ably once a lake, for the valley is here blocked 
across by a mountain. Gradually, however, the 
river has worn its course down through the rocks, 
and is now a magnificent rapid. The defile is very 
narrow, the rocks towering over our heads, and. the 
road often tunneling through them. Beneath, the 
river, sometimes narrowed to a strid, surges and 
foams tumultuously, the water dashing wildly from 
side to side, and tossing stones about in the foam 
like marbles. As we approached Bellinzona it was 
nearly sunset, and the valley looked lovelier than 
ever in the quiet evening light, the mountains still 
glowing in the sunshine. Bellinzona carries the 
mind back to the days of Dante and Petrarch. It 
is walled and has three castles with projecting cor- 
nices on the wall supported by corbels. The women 
do most of the field work, carry burdens, and are 
terribly afflicted with goitre. The men make the 
beds and do other light employm.ent." 

After visiting Como, Maggiore, Lugano, and Mi- 
lan, they returned to Switzerland by the Simplon. 



66 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Under date of 9th June, 1869, Stanley writes en- 
thusiastically of the ascent : — 

'* We left Domo D'Ossola at six this morning, and 
for eight hours were steadily ascending 6,200 feet of 
the Simplon Pass, with a succession of precipices, 
rocks, torrents, and snow-crowned heights. As a 
piece of engineering the road is most extraordinary. 
In one place the gorge is completely filled by huge 
rocks, the river just making its way between two pre- 
cipices, and apparently leaving no roadw^ay. Napo- 
leon's engineers, however, bridged the chasm above 
a magnificent waterfall, and then at once proceeded 
to tunnel through the rock. We dined on goat and 
dandelion-salad at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and 
continued to ascend till we had a good view of the 
glaciers. The flora is delightful. It is so charming 
to see plants which for months have been smothered 
in snow come out in this desolate region looking as 
bright and joyous as though they had the sun upon 
them all the year. There are the Alpine roses, the 
fragrant Vv^hite lilies, rosy primulas, gentians, and 
forget-me-nots with their darling blue." 

Again, on the Tenth of June, 1869, he writes 
from Zermatt : — " We had a splendid view of the 
Fleschhorn Glacier as we ascended the Zermatt 
Valley, and of the great Trift Glacier, dazzlingly 
white and delicately blue. Then the majestic Mat- 
terhorn came in sight, glowing in the setting sun, 
with a veil of cloud below its summit. It rises 4,000 
feet in solitary and imposing sublimity from a line 
of snow-capped mountains 10,000 feet high, its sides 
often too precipitous to afford a rest for the snow, 



Cirencester. 6j 

so that its rocks contrast in naked grandeur with the 
glistening white of the glacier that surrounds its 
feet. The tail of the great Gorner Glacier curls 
down from amongst these snowy heights, bristling 
with blue pinnacles of ice, a magnificent waterfall 
descending by its side, and in the foreground pine 
forests, with undulating mountain pasture slopes, 
dotted with chalets, and the white torrent of the river 
foaming in the valley beneath. Truly we have seen 
the works of the Creator in all their majesty, and the 
Psalmist's songs of praise have often been remem- 
bered, to the glory of Him ' who by His strength 
setteth fast the mountains, being girded with power.' " 
This journey was a great refreshment to Stanley 
Pumphrey. His father's health failed in the follow- 
ing year. He paid a last visit to his son in Ciren- 
cester, and the Christmas of 1870 Stanley spent at 
Worcester. A few weeks later he was receiving his 
father's dying charge by his bedside, "Thou wilt be 
preserved as thou keeps near to Jesus. Keep very 
near to the blessed Saviour. What I desire for thee 
is that thou mayest be made a blessing, and that thy 
ministry may be in demonstration of the Spirit and 
of power, and then whether the words be few or 
many, they will touch the heart and carry the bless- 
ing with them." The day before his father died he 
was visited by his son-in-law from Leominster, when 
he prayed that as Jacob ere he died blessed the two 
sons of Joseph, so he might be permitted to bless his 
son and son-in-law, saying, ''The God which fed me 
all my life long unto this day, the angel which re- 
deemed me from all evil, bless the lads," and thus, 



68 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

early in 187 1, his father passed away to be for ever 
with the Lord. 

The horrors of the Franco-Pnissian war were now 
startling Europe, and the fearful destruction of life 
appeared like the pouring out of a vial of wrath. ** I 
could have cried over the news yesterday," Stanley 
wrote, as day after day tidings of bloodshed and 
death were telegraphed, ''and yet how utterly im- 
possible it is to approach a realizing conception of 
these most horrid deeds." 

The Friends did their utmost to assist the poor 
non-combatants. Several Friends worked personally, 
at much self-sacrifice, in and around Metz, in the dis- 
tribution of succour in connection with the War Vic- 
tims Fund. 

Stanley, however, keenly as he mourned over the 
desolation and sympathized with the sufferers, felt 
that his work at that time was in Gloucestershire. In 
conjunction with Cirencester Friends he attended in 
regular course the Monthly Meetings at Nailsworth 
and Painswick. Chartering a coach for the day, they 
would be off in a body to the little country Meeting 
among the Cotswolds, enjoying the ride, and taking 
the sunshine of Christian cheerfulness with them. 
Ever fond of flowers, the clusters of yellow broom, 
and the broad blue patches of viper's bugloss at the 
roadside, or some beautiful fern on the banks, would 
call forth exclamations of pleasure, and on reaching 
their destination the charming quaintness of such a 
unique man as Antony Fewster was sure to enlist 
abundant interest. Such a man now belongs to the 
past, apt in patristic lore, standing in the Friends' 



Cirencester. 69 

Gallery, as the tall old man was wont, quoting Au- 
gustine, Tertullian and Chrysostom to confirm his 
text, and enforcing his argument with his walking- 
stick upon the Meeting House floor. 

In Cirencester itself there were also men of mark, 
for Gloucestershire has ever been noted for its forci- 
ble men. There was Isaac Pitt, the firm upholder 
of church affairs as in his innermost conscience he 
believed right, standing on one memorable occasion 
to read the minute of the dissolution of the old Glou- 
cester and Wilts Quarterly Meeting. The ready ac- 
cess from town to town by railway communication, 
and the changes in population from country districts 
to city centres had made some change requisite, and 
it was proposed to unite the Gloucestershire Meet- 
ings to the Western District, making a more compact 
whole. At the same time there was probably some 
inner sense in the minds of many present that the 
Society of Friends had not prospered, as it ought to 
have prospered, and there were sad hearts and tear- 
ful eyes respecting the approaching change. Yet 
the new arrangement was undoubtedly right, and 
has proved a blessing to all concerned, strengthen- 
ing intercourse, and binding together one meeting 
w^th another. The Friends had sat patiently for six 
hours in their meeting that day, . when Isaac Pitt 
rose to read the final minute. But the strong man 
was unnerved. The words trembled on his lips. He 
stood awhile dumb with sorrow, for he was standing, 
as it were, on the threshold of the past, to go forth 
and embrace the dangers and the hopes of the living 
present. 



yo Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

The bearings of Stanley Pumphrey's life were now 
undergoing important changes, and the pointings of 
the compass indicated no long settlement at Ciren- 
cester, The joyous companionship of her whom he 
had so tenderly loved, could be Jiis no more on earth. 
He had no children to provide for, and possessed 
with a very moderate income, it seemed as though 
his own wants could be easily supplied, and his time 
set at liberty for more direct Gospel service. On 
the 31st of March, 187 1, we accordingly find him 
wanting : — 

'' Our thoughts have been earnestly occupied as to 
our future course, and I am almost brought to the 
conclusion that I must relinquish business. Our 
present expectation is that we shall break up the 
house at Cirencester, midsummer twelvemonth, and 
then return and take a small house at Worcester, 
which may be a home for sisters, a place too, that I 
may regard as home, and to which I may at times 
return to rest. But I neither expect nor wish for 
much rest below. The call has been given impres- 
sively in many ways to entire consecration, and I 
ask for grace that w^hen separated unto the Gospel 
of God, I may be so preserved that I may accomplish 
my course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of 
the Grace of God. I hope I am not under delusion. 
I tremble lest I should take a seriously responsible 
step and find it a mistake. Truly if thus called I 
may acknowledge that it is not according to works 
but according to His own purpose and grace." 

In accordance with this line of thought, Stanley 



Cirencester. 71 

Pumphrey retired from business in 1872, and on the 
20th June he bade farewell to the workmen and as- 
sistants in his employ. A parting excursion to Bird- 
lip, among the Cotswold Hills, was made the occasion 
for the expression of the goodwill and cordiality that 
had existed betwee^ employer and employed. Ban- 
ners and inscriptions such as "Unity is strength," 
decked the dining-hall at Birdlip. " If you have the 
unity,' Mr. Pumphrey, we have the strength," was the 
remark of the men at dinner, for truly the sinew and 
muscle of the working man must co-operate with the 
brain power and finance of the capitalist to achieve 
success. After dinner Stanley made his speech in 
the following fashion : — 

"In the year sixty one I first came to your town, 
And never regret having made it my home. 
We have seen many changes as years hastened by. 
And now to recall them a little we'll try. 
Our workshops were then, if I make no mistake, 
In the cottage, pulled down in order to make 
The new warehouse for bar iron instead ; 
And the implement store was a miserable shed. 
The front shop was dark, unpleasant and low, 
And the show rooms were worse both above and below. 
The first shops we put up for six men were intended, 
And still as our number increased we extended. 
Then came the new show room, with gallery round, 
Where the mantels and grates and the fendei's are found. 
Our next alteration was building the stores 
With the implements down on the lowermost floors ; 
And the club room above, which a benefit proved, 
And I hope you'll support it though now it is moved. 
In the year 1870, third of November, 
Occurred the sad fire, we have cause to remember 



T2 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

What mess and confusion it made us ! but still 

Good often turns up from the seemingly ill. 

So we found it, as the new front testified, 

By Newcombe the builder right well edified. 

And now when I thouglit I should leave it all right 

Some further improvements are coming to light. 

Fresh stores are erected, fresh warehouses made. 

The better to cope with the increase of trade, 

"Wholesale and retail brought in closer relation 

By removiiig our friend Henry Buncombe's location. 

May your plans be successful the farther they go, 

And good fortune attend Alexander & Co., 

May they still keep their place, or if ever outdone 

Let it be by the firm A'exander and Son, 

Well, my friends, we are parting, what more shall I say ? 

Through the years that have passed we've held on our way. 

Kind words and good deeds may deservedly stand, 

Let all else be written but only in sand. 

Pull together forbearingly, that is the plan 

For pleasantly working ' twixt master and man. 

May we all, O my friends, who so happily mtet 

Round this table, hereafter sit down at His feet, 

Who to the city above has gone on before, 

Wiiere aU blessings await us in limitless stoi e, 

And time passes so sweetly 'tis heeded no more." 

Thus the curtain falls on one of the brightest 
epochs in Stanley Pumphrey's life. His career 
at Cirencester will long be remembered as a time 
when he stood forth as a man, mingling in the 
busy traffic of men, the conscientious tradesman 
and kind-hearted employer, the active citizen fore- 
most in temperance and philanthropic effort, de- 
voting himself to the well-being of others, and at 
the same time the sunshine of his own quiet home. 



CHAPTER VI. 



IRELAND. 



In 1872 Stanley Pumphrey purchased a comfortable 
house, No. 41, Britannia Square, Worcester, which 
for the remainder of his life became his home. But 
it was with no intent to indulge in ease that he es- 
tablished himself at Worcester, and he was very sel- 
dom at home for any length of time. 

He delighted to open his house to all his friends, 
and greatly enjoyed the privilege of entertaining 
them. Nothing pleased him better than to gather 
them together in his drawing room, to listen to such 
men as Theophilus Waldmeier, or other advocates of 
Mission work. He was ever ready, when at home, 
to plead the cause of Temperance, and as far as pos- 
sible to help forward the city mission. 

A visit to Friends in the Eastern Counties occu- 
pied a considerable time ; and in 1873 and 1874 he 
travelled extensively in Ireland, as a minister of the 
Gospel, with certificates from his meetings in Eng- 
land. 

Commencing at Waterford, in February, 1873, in 
company with his uncle, JohnM. Albright, of Charl- 
bury, Oxon, he quickly received a cordial Irish wel- 
come. " Indeed we are not going to make strangers 
of you," was the greeting there. While driving to 
4 



74 Memories of Stanley Pinnphrey. 

the residence of William Roberts, a valued minister, 
the horse shied, and they were all thrown into a 
snowdrift, without, however, sustaining much injury. 
They also called on Thomas White Jacob, of Tra- 
more, who for many years was the clerk of Dublin 
Yearly Meeting. A meeting on Foreign Missions 
with the schoolboys at Newtown followed, and they 
afterwards proceeded to Clonmel, a place hallowed 
by memories of the early life of Sarah Grubb. Near 
Limerick a meeting was held at Pallas-newri, a 
place surrounded by wild open tracts of barren coun- 
try, with houses thinly scattered, and many of the 
cabins excessively miserable and poor. The Protes- 
tants were very grateful for the visit ; one man re- 
marking, " I should like to hear the Friends every 
day, for it is the real Gospel we have listened to, and 
nothing else." The meeting held long, for the peo- 
ple seemed thirsting. 

The next day they drove to Ballingrane, near 
Rathkeale. This is one of the principal settlements 
of the Palatine German refugees, who, when perse- 
cuted in their own country, fled to Ireland in the 
reign of Queen -Anne, and had allotments of land 
given them. John Wesley found these people in an 
uncared for and degenerate state, and organized 
several congregations among them, which are still 
maintained. They are distinguished by greater in- 
dustry and cleanliness than the surrounding Irish ; 
but they suffer to some extent from the physical and 
mental deterioration consequent on intermarriage 
from generation to generation. Balligrane was the 
parent church of the first Wesleyan congregation in 



Ireland. 75 

the United States. The chapel is a neat structure, 
and holds about 150 people. 

From here a visit was paid to the meeting at Ros- 
crea, where Mary Dudley used to worship ; and Avhile 
in the neighbourhood, Stanley went to see the beau- 
tiful domain of Lord Rosse, and the enormous re- 
flecting telescope. The telescope is suspended be- 
tween two lofty, strongly-built walls, w4th elaborate 
machinery for regulating its action, but it has no 
horizontal movement. 

At Cork several large meetings were held, but the 
state of the Society of Friends, and of the Protestants 
generally in the south-west of Ireland, was not en- 
couraging. In Cork, as in Dublin and some other 
places, Stanley felt it his duty to pay family visits to 
the members of the meeting, and many of these op- 
portunities for private religious intercourse were 
truly servicable. In some cases intemperance had 
blighted religious life : in others, young men received 
the visit with great cordiality. One old man spoke 
of the infidel principles imbibed in early life, and how 
he had been drifting off from all connection with the 
Church of Christ, when he was asked by an uncle to 
go and hear an American Friend at Limerick. Wish- 
ing to please him, he went to hear "what the Quaker 
had to say," The minister rose with the text, as it 
stands in our old version, " Almost thou persuadest 
me to be a Christian," depicting the backslider's path 
in the mazes of doubt, tracking out all his wanderings 
from the truth, so that the young man was thorough- 
ly convinced and brought back to the fold, and now 
as an old man, was quietly rejoicing in Christ. 



76 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Another call was on three elderly ladies who were 
sisters. At one time they had been gay, but had be- 
come serious. The eldest of them told of a previous 
visit of the same kind, she had received many years 
before from Sarah Squire. She was just then very 
busy with housekeeping, and was especially anxious 
to provide everything first-rate for the ministering 
Friend. Before the interview with Sarah Squire she 
exclaimed, "If Sarah Sqnire does not speak to Mar- 
tha's state, I shall not have much faith in her." The 
interview came. The mother and the sister were ap- 
propriately addressed, and then there was a pause, fol- 
lowed by Sarah Squire recommencing, '' The state of 
Martha has also been before me" — and the busy 
young lady was dealt with pretty plainly. 

A venerable patriarch of eighty-five, at Parsons- 
town, who had his children, grandchildren, and great- 
grandchildren around him, remarked that the Friends 
had been in a very low state in his youth, strict about 
dress and language, but that this had often seemed 
the substance of their religion. 

" If Friends and Methodists could be pounded to- 
gether," he said, " it would make a good combination." 

" What is it we want from the Methodists ? " Stan- 
ley enquired. 

*' A good deal of fire," he replied ; '' and the Meth- 
odists would be all the better for some of your sta- 
bility." 

There was at that time hardly any ministry in the 
Friend's Meetings at Parsonstown, except when the 
occasional visit of a travelling Friend occurred. 
*' Sixteen sermons in fourteen years would be as 



Ireland, *J'J 

much as I heard in the meetings of the Friends," 
was the old man's testimony, "and now you see 
what it has brought you to. Meetings that had 
three hundred members are now a mere handful." 
The old man himself had joined the Wesleyans 
when young, and soon felt called to preach. This 
brought him into great conflict of mind. He took 
up the Bible, and asking God for direction, opened 
on the passage, '' Let no man despise thy youth," 
His doubts vanished ; and since then he has preached 
the Word as opportunity presented. He had a good 
farm, and felt concerned for the neighbours round 
him. He gathered them together, held meetings 
with them, many were much blessed, some of whom 
are already in heaven, and others on the way there. 
His own son became deeply concerned about his 
soul ; and the father being anxious that these im- 
pressions should not be dissipated, gave him some 
work to do where he would be alone. He went after 
awhile to see him. His son was gone ; but he saw 
the pages of the open Book blotted with tears of 
penitence, and the father praised the Lord whose 
blessed Spirit was working in the young man's soul. 
Benjamin the son returned to his father, and said, 
''Father, God has forgiven me ; I have found peace." 
'* Hold it fast, my dear lad, hold it fast, go and tell 
your companions what the Lord has done for your 
soul." The young man did so, and forty souls were 
brought to Christ. The old patriarch's voice was 
choked with emotion, and the tears coursed down 
his cheeks, as he humbly told Stanley of all the bless- 
ings that had since rested upon him. 



78 Memories of Stanley Ptimphrey. 

Stanley and his uncle proceeded northwards 
through Dublin, to Bessbrook, Grange, Moy, Bel- 
fast, and Lisburn. Here they met Joel and Hannah 
Bean from Iowa, and Mary Rogers, another minis- 
ter, with whom they soon formed close friendship, 
and whose ministry proved very helpful. One young 
man in this district was in continual terror of being 
shot down by the Ribbon-men, because he had dis- 
missed an incompetent bailiff. His brother and him- 
self had to be guarded by the police wherever they 
went. The new bailiff had been shot a week after 
he commenced his duties, without giving any cause 
of offence, and thus the Ribbon-men frequently at- 
tem.pted to put any one to death who incurred their 
displeasure. 

Stanley returned home to devote a few weeks to 
business, and in April 1873, was again in Dublin en- 
gaged in visiting meetings and members in the neigh- 
bourhood of the city, and in attendance on the Dub- 
lin Yearly Meeting then in session. John Frederick 
Hansen, a young Norwegian preacher from America, 
was present, en route for Gospel service in Norway, 
Denmark and Sweden. Robert Walter Douglas, of 
Wilmington, Ohio, with William Haydock as his com- 
panion, and Yardley Warner from Philadelphia, Avere 
also in Dublin, besides Joel and Hannah Bean and 
Mary Rogers. 

A prayer meeting was convened before the Yearly 
Meeting to invoke a special blessing, and with such 
a group of gifted ministers, there was abundance of 
good counsel and Gospel exhortation. At one of 
the meetings Robert Walter Douglas preached from 



Ireland. 79 

the text, " Behold I will make thee a new sharp 
threshing instrument having teeth, and thou shalt 
thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make 
the hills as chaff." " The Church," he said, '' should 
be such an instrument as this in the hand of the 
Lord. We may have the most perfect organization, 
and every arrangement that can be desired, and yet 
be inoperative. I lately saw a large mill, the build- 
ing was excellent, the machinery perfect, but there 
was no water power, and the mill lay useless. The 
power we need, is the power of the Spirit of God. 
The charge is, ' Tarry at Jerusalem until ye be en- 
dued with power from on high.' The Apostles did 
tarry, the power came, and the little church of one 
hundred and twenty at once became a new sharp 
threshing instrument, and three thousand uncon- 
verted souls were threshed out in one day. Our 
early Friends were endued with this power, and in 
this lay their strength. We may have been too 
much disposed to rest in what they accomplished. 
We must ourselves be like a new sharp threshing 
instrument. If a church is not aggressive it will lose 
ground ; if it is aggressive, all church historj" shows 
that it will gain. A besieged city will surely fall at 
last, if it only acts on the defensive. Gideon with 
his little band went forth and conquered, crying, 
'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.' Let us 
not, therefore, be discouraged by the fewness of our 
numbers, for through the strength of the Lord, one 
may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to 
flight." 

A special meeting was held for young men and 



8o Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

women, on the subject of the Gospel ministry, en- 
couraging them to the study of Holy Scripture. 
Large meetings with the public were likewise ap- 
pointed in Merrion Hall, in which Robert W. Doug- 
las took the leading part. Other meetings followed 
with enquirers, and with those who had recently 
given their hearts to Christ. There was no excite- 
ment, and the power and presence of the Lord were 
evidently felt. In one of these meetings, forty-six 
Friends spoke in testimony or in prayer, most of 
them young people. Stanley remarks aftenvards, 
**More persons have spoken to me privately in con- 
cern about their souls than I have been accustomed 
to. I deeply feel the responsibility this lays upon 
me, and how much I lack wisdom to deal with such. 
It is a very solem.n position to be placed in. I long 
to help, and tremble lest I should mislead." 

At Willow Park Stanley had the pleasure of meet- 
ing Robert Pearsall Smith of Germantown, Philadel- 
phia. Respecting his intercourse with him, he says : 
— "Robert Pearsall Smith seems to enjoy fellowship 
with Christ to the full. He is so equable and happy, 
and illustrates the text he appropriates, 'My soul 
shall dwell at ease.' He says that in America their 
most successful evangelists are not eloquent, and 
that they make small account of eloquence ; the 
unction of the Holy Spirit is everything. His way 
is wonderfully opened before him. He has access 
to the clergy of London, and has just had a Confer- 
ence arranged for him with forty Primitive Method- 
ist Ministers, and another with a band of Wesleyans. 
The Meeting for Sufferings has allowed him the use 



Ireland. 8 1 

of a room at Devonshire House, and thus he gains 
access to all classes, and seeks to lead all to full con- 
secration, close communion with the Lord, and the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. He admires a man who 
is fond of horse exercise, a natural, joyous, unre- 
strained man, full of the power of the Spirit. Chris- 
tians have not been natural and joyous as they should 
be. *When we were in Switzerland,' adds Pearsall 
Smith, Sve were a merry party, but amidst our 
merriment there was never a time when we could 
not have broken off and at once knelt down in 
prayer.' And so talking of prayer, they knelt in 
prayer, and Robert Pearsall Smith offered a sweet 
humble prayer, confiding!}^ asking forgiveness for 
all mistakes and ignorances, that we might be led 
forward into clearer light and that nothing we had 
done might injure the holy cause. 

Stanley Pumphrey proceeded from Dublin with J. 
M. Albright to Clara and Edenderry. In this dis- 
trict they found themselves among people of thor- 
oughly Irish type, the men tall, thin, and gaunt, with 
prominent teeth, and habited in long coats, knee- 
breeches and high-crowned hats. The garb of the 
women was more picturesque, full bordered white 
caps setting off their complexions, a coloured hand- 
kerchief thrown over their heads, and black cloaks 
reaching almost to the feet. Calling at one of the 
cottages they found it a most wretched cabin, with 
holes in the roof, no w^indow, lots of smoke, and a de- 
plorably dirty floor. 

" I should think your fowls lay night and day ? " 
was the travellers' question as they saw eggs by 
4* 



S2 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

thousands lying in the street, waiting to be sent to 
the Dublin market. *' No, sir, they lay by steam," 
was the reply. At Clara, Stanley partook of the 
hospitality of Marcus Goodbody, in the same house 
where John Bright and William Forster had been 
guests, both of them men truly concerned for the 
best welfare of Ireland. Some one spoke disparag- 
ingly in John Bright's presence, during his visit to 
Clara, of a revival preacher, because he preached 
about ''nothing but Christ." John Bright promptly 
replied, " What else should the Christian minister 
preach about ! " and at once silenced the objection. 

In Queen's county they passed the estate at Bur- 
row, belonging to the family of Lord Norbury. Forty 
years ago Lord Norbury was living there doing his 
best for his tenantry, and employing three hundred 
men in the rebuilding of his mansion. But he in- 
curred the displeasure of some miscreant who shot 
him dead. Since then none of the family have lived 
there, and the whole district has suffered from the 
effects of that one evil deed. 

At Ballitore our friends visited the large old School 
House, which for one hundred years was the leading 
seminary for Friends in Ireland. Four generations of 
the Shackleton family presided over the school for 
about twenty-five years each. In this school Edmund 
Burke was taught, and formed a life-long friendship 
with Richard Shackleton ; and here, more recently, 
Cardinal Cullen and Jonathan Pirn, formerly M.P. 
for Dublin, sat side by side. The Cardinal publicly 
alluded to his Quaker education, and was always 
friendly with the Friends. In the Friends' burial 



Ireland. 83 

ground rest the remains of Job Scott and other worth- 
ies. Stanley's host at Ballitore was Richard Shackle- 
ton, who was descended, on his father's side, from a 
long line of honourable men of that name, and on his 
mother's side from Margaret Fell of Swarthmore. 

Later on in the same year Stanley proceeded in 
company with William J. Dawson to Carricknahorna, 
the residence of Thomas Dixon and family, near 
Ballyshannon, county Donegal. Here they passed 
through the intensely wild scenery of the west coast 
skirting Donegal Bay. The western highlands of 
Donegal stretch for twenty miles to the north, ter- 
minating in Slievh League, whose precipitous cliffs 
tower 2000 feet perpendicularly above the Atlantic. 
To the south the long line of the Darty Mountains 
in the county Sligo terminate in the rugged outline 
of Ben Brisky. The rocks of hard limestone are 
tilted up one above another like the bulwarks of 
some rugged fortification, against the giant swell of 
the ocean. Truly, as Stanley says, *' The works of 
the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have 
pleasure therein." 

The road to Carricknahorna runs through the 
wildest parts of the country, moorland, mountain and 
lakes all around, and the house itself was of primi- 
tive construction. But the true hearted hospitality 
of the inmates was unbounded. The son and daugh- 
ter had established a First Day School which was in 
vigorous action, while the father called systemati- 
cally on the cottagers and read the Scriptures to them. 
A Temperance Society was in active operation, and 
Thomas Dixon and his family were causing the light 



84 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

of aggressive Christianity to shine among the wilds 
of Donegal. When the Sabbath came, the Meeting 
House was crowded with Protestants, and a heart- 
searching sermon was addressed to them on the 
broad and narrow way, one or other of which each of 
them must choose. 

At Ballyshannon the meeting was arranged in the 
Church schoolroom, and notice of it was posted on 
the churchyard gates. The incumbent, the Rev. S. 
G. Cochrane, threw open his own house to the 
Friends. These meetings with the public were com- 
menced by reading the Holy Scriptures and prayer, 
and Stanley took for his text at the evening meeting, 
Romans viii. i. '' There is therefore now no con- 
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk 
not after the flesh but after the Spirit." 

Thence he proceeded to Londonderry, Belfast and 
Bessbrook. In visiting Lurgan he made the acquaint- 
ance of a Friend who some years ago felt it his duty 
to come and live there to set himself more at liberty 
to attend meetings. Lurgan Meeting at one time 
had seventy families belonging to it, and was in some 
sort the parent meeting of Ireland, but had at that 
time become much reduced, and the Meeting House 
premises were sadly neglected, and in a ruinous con- 
dition. The congregation was so scattered that one 
old man, had often sat down there alone. Friends 
were talking of selling part of the premises to pay 
the heavy debt tKat hung upon them, but this one 
old Friend entreated them not to do it, saying, 
''Don't ye do it Friends, the Meeting will yet re- 
vive." It has revived, and in 1874 they had an at- 



Ireland. 85 

tendance varying from forty to eighty, to a consider- 
able extent owing to the faithful labours of the min- 
istering Friend referred to. The Meeting may not 
be all that a church should be, yet when Stanley vis- 
ited it there were sixty-four persons present. " It's 
all true," exclaimed the old man after Stanley had 
been speaking, ''Bless the Lord, He does not forget 
us, and sends His servants amongst us still." Noth- 
ing would satisfy him but that Stanley must partake 
of a meal with him. .He was living in a little room six 
or eight feet square, but the tea was all ready, with the 
coarse wheaten cakes and raspberry jam of his own 
manufacture ; and the meal was encompassed with 
the sunshine of contentment and the spirit of praise. 

While here Stanley Pumphrey met Elizabeth L. 
Comstock from Michigan. She preached a power- 
ful sermon on the names of Jehovah, as typical of 
the revelations of God, — 

I. — Jehovah- JiREH, '' the Lord will provide ;" the 
blessed doctrine of sacrifice and atonement for our 
sakes, revealed in the mount to Abraham, and de- 
clared by Abraham to his son Isaac, '' My son, God 
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." 

2. — Jehovah-Nissi, " The Lord my banner," open- 
ing out the great truths in Exodus, that the Lord 
himself fights Israel's battles, and goeth before his 
people as the captain of salvation, to win the victory 
for them, and that 

*' As Moses stood with arms spread wide 
Success was found on Israel's side, 
But when through weariness they failed, 
That moment Amalek prevailed." 



86 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

So when we go to the Lord in all the forcibleness of 
prayer, though utter weakness in ourselves, the Lord 
Himself will carry on the war against all our spirit- 
ual enemies, until the last enemy shall be trodden 
under His feet. 

3. — Jehovah-Shalom, '■'■ The Lord will send peace." 
Each of these marvellous names is in close connec- 
tion with an altar of sacrifice. Gideon, in a time of 
distress, hears the word of the Lord saying to him, 
** Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die," 
and he goes forth, and throws down his father's altar 
of Baal. The Spirit of the Lord comes mightily 
upon him, and blowing the trumpet, he threshes the 
Midianites. 

4. — Jehovah-Tsidkenu, '' The Lord our righteous- 
ness." " This is the name whereby He shall be 
called, the Lord our righteousness," but not only is 
it the name given to the Messiah, but the Bride, the 
Church, takes the name of her Heavenly Bridegroom, 
** Judah shall be saved, Jerusalem shall dwell safely, 
and this is the name wherewith she shall be called. 
The Lord our Righteousness." (Jeremiah xxxiii. 
16.) 

5. — Jehovah-Shammah, "The Lord is there." The 
Lord ever present with His people, their joy, their 
strength, their bulwark, their salvation. The sacri- 
fice, the Lamb of God has been provided, which 
taketh away the sin of the world. The war is over. 
The new city, with its portion for every tribe, is built 
up of living stones, and Ezekiel sums up his marvel- 
lous visions, saying, *' And the name of the city from 
that day shall be, The Lord is there." 



Ireland. 87 

Such is an imperfect outline of a sermon from one 
who has been the succourer of thousands of refugees, 
freedmen, emigrants, prisoners, drunkards, and home- 
less persons. 

Stanley Pumphrey and E. L. Comstock moved on 
to Belfast, where the latter had a large meeting with 
about 2000 women. Moody and Sankey were at that 
time holding revival services in the city, and Stanley 
hastened to the noonday prayer meeting, where one 
thousand people were assembled. He dined with D. 
L. Moody, and found him a plain ordinary man, 
"nothing at all striking about him in anyway. It 
is another illustration that God chooses the base 
things of the world, and things that are despised, to 
effect His purposes, for that God is using him there 
cannot be the smallest doubt.'' 

At 2 o'clock. Moody held his midday meeting. 
After singing and prayer, he opened his Bible and 
gave a lesson on Grace. '' It would sometimes help 
us in our Bible studies," he said, '' if we used our 
dictionaries. Not one in ten knows what grace is. 
The best definition is 'unmerited mercy.' In John 
i. 14, 17, we find out by Whom grace comes, and to 
whom it comes. Jesus Christ is the source of grace, 
and it is for sinnerS. In Romans v. 15, we see that 
the Gift, by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ, 
hath abounded unto many. Turn to the parable of 
the two sons. Matt. xxi. 28-31. The Jews could not 
receive the covenant of grace, of salvation by faith, 
they were Abraham's seed, they were not Gentile 
sinners, and thought they had ground of their own 
on which they could stand before God. Jesus says 



88 Memories of Stanley PiimpJirey. 

to them, ' Verily I say unto you, that the publicans 
and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before 
you.' In Romans x. 3, you will see why it is that 
so many do not accept the grace so freely offered 
them, and where they stumble, 'They being igno- 
rant of God's righteousness, and going about to es- 
tablish their own righteousness, have not submitted 
themselves unto the righteousness of God.' 

" ' It is not meet to take the children's bread,' said 
Jesus to the Syro-Phoenecian woman, ' and cast it to 
dogs.' 'Yes, Lord,' she beautifully answered, 'I 
take my place as a Gentile dog.' Her spirit was not 
up, as ours would have been with wounded pride, 
but she takes her place contentedly as deserving 
nothing, and she begs a crumb. The Lord threw 
her a whole loaf at once. 

" Look at the Roman centurion. The messengers 
came and said he was worthy, he was a respectable 
man, well connected, a man in authority. He loveth 
our nation, and has built us a synagogue. Oh yes, 
he was worthy surely, there could be no doubt of it. 
Brother Thomson here gives Pastor Thomas ^1000 
towards his new chapel. He may have made the 
money by distilling whiskey, never mind, he is worthy, 
he has built us a synagogue. So-4:he world talks, and 
so too often the church thinks. But the Lord Jesus 
went with the men. He meant to read them a les- 
son. He knew all about the centurion. Listen, what 
has the centurion to say for himself ? ' I am not 
worthy. I thought not myself worthy to come to 
Thee.' He took the place of receiving, through free 
grace. He believed, and got what he wanted. Of 



Ireland. 89 

course he did. Any man who has faith in God will 
get the blessing on the same terms. * For by grace 
are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, 
it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man should 
boast." 

Moody sat down, calling on Ira D. Sankey to sing 
the now well-known hymn, — 

" There were ninety-and-nine that safely lay 
In the shelter of the fold, 
But one was out on the hillr away 
Far off from the gates of gold." 

Stanley writes : — ''I never heard anything to ap- 
proach Sankey's singing. Any one who doubts 
whether there may be a service in song should just 
listen to him, and it would no longer surprise them 
that souls are won under the influence of the melt- 
ing melody. In the evening it was announced that 
Moody would be at St. Enoch's, the meeting to be- 
gin at eight. We were told the only chance of get- 
ting in was, to go an hour and a half before time. 
At 6.30 the doors were opened, and in twelve min- 
utes the whole of the large church, with its double 
gallery, holding three thousand people, was filled, 
and the doors were closed. It was a wonderful sight 
to see the people thronging in, and their attention 
was complete, indeed it could hardly be otherwise. 
In the middle of Moody's sermon he called on Sankey 
to sing, saying ' As well sing about grace as preach 
about it, it will help the sermon.' At the close of 
the service any who were anxious about their souls, 
and desired conversation, were invited to come to 



go Memories of Stanley Purnphrey . 

another neighbouring church. This enquirers' meet- 
ing I felt to be the most instructive of all, and there 
could be no doubt that the arrow of conviction had 
entered a large proportion of those present." Thus 
the reality of Moody's work was abundantly manifest 
long before he had acquired the popularity he has 
since attained. 

After thoroughly visiting the meetings of Friends 
in Ireland, Stanley again returned home. His fare- 
well sermon in Dublin was in these words, ''All 
things are yours. Things present and things to 
come, all are yours. Every need is met in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Not that we are always to expect an 
abounding, or a treasure as it w^ere, to draw from 
for future w^ants. The Christian is often in the 
condition of the disciples, sent forth without scrip, 
yet as they had to testify that they lacked nothing, 
so we find in looking to the Lord, that every want 
is supplied as it arises, and seeing that this is the 
case, what need w^e more ? " 



CHAPTER VII. 



WORCESTER. 



Stanley Pumphrey belonged to an industrious fam- 
ily, and whether on his journeys or at home never 
allowed the grass to grow under his feet. On his re- 
turn from Ireland in 1874 he wrote an article for the 
Friends' Quarterly Examiner on the life of George 
Herbert, the country parson, and his godly counsel 
to ministers. Many of the quotations portray Stan- 
ley Pumphrey's own views, and as such will form a 
valuable commentary on his own thoughts respect- 
ing the ministry. 

''It is an ill mason that refuses any stone, but the 
chief and top of the pastor's knowledge consists in 
the Book of books, the storehouse and magazine of 
life and comfort, the Holy Scriptures. 

" The second means is prayer, which if necessary 
in temporal things, how much more in things of an- 
other world, where the well is deep, and we have 
nothing of ourselves to draw with. 

"The third means is a diligent comparison of 
Scripture with Scripture. Suck every letter, and 
find honey. 

"The fourth means are commentators and the 
fathers, which the pastor by no means refuseth. 
Yet he doth not so study others as to neglect the 



92 Memories of Stanley Fzimphrey. 

grace of God in himself, and what the Holy Spirit 
teacheth him. But as one country does not bear all 
things, that there may be commerce, so neither hath 
God opened out, or will open out, all thoughts to 
one man, that there may be a traffic in knowledge 
between the servants of God. 

** Lord Jesus, teach Tliou me, that I may teach. 
Sanctify all my powers, that in their full strength I 
may deliver Thy message reverently, readily, faith- 
fully, and fruitfully. Oh, make Thy word a swift 
word, passing from the ear to the heart, and from 
the heart to the life and the conversation. 

"■ George Herbert says that for the understanding 
of the Scriptures we need ' first a holy life ' ; and 
again he says, ' A holy life is the best library.' When 
introduced to the rectory of Bemerton, near Salis- 
bury, according to an old custom he was left alone 
in the church to toll the bell ; but as he was much 
longer than usual, his friends came to seek him, and 
found him prostrate before the altar in fervent prayer, 
for he says, ' Prayers are the church bells that are 
heard beyond the stars.' He recommends the minis- 
ter to let his words be 'heart deep,' and 'to have a 
diligent and busy cast of the eye on his hearers ; ' and 
inasmuch as country people are thick and heavy and 
hard to raise, use plain and simple language, inter- 
spersed with stories and sayings of others, with homely 
illustrations, for things of ordinary use when washed 
and cleansed may serve as lights to heavenly truths. 
Our Saviour made plants and seeds to teach the peo- 
ple, not only that by familiar things He might make 
the doctrine slip the more easily into the hearts even 



Worcester. 93 

of the meanest, but also that labouring people re- 
membering in the garden his mustard seed and lilies, 
and in the field his seed corn and tares, should not 
be drowned altogether in their work but lift up their 
minds to better things in the midst of their labour." 
And thus Stanley Pumphrey concludes that ''not 
only ministers but Sabbath-school teachers, district 
visitors, and helpers in mission services, may find in 
George Herbert many a useful hint as to XSxq prepara- 
tion for their labours." 

Another paper which Stanley Pumphrey after- 
wards prepared on a kindred subject was entitled 
"Christ, the Model Teacher." This also appeared 
in the Friends' Quarterly Examiner^ and a few extracts 
from it will show the healthy line of vigorous thought 
which guided his pen. 

''The remark made by the Hindu to Elkanah 
Beard, ' How nicely Jesus puts things,' illustrates the 
impression His words produce on thoughtful minds 
whose perceptions are not yet dulled by familiarity 
with Christ's teaching. Everything is eminently 'well 
put' If we ask how Jesus succeeded in making his 
teaching so plain, forcible, and interesting, we shall 
find that one secret lay in the free use of apt illustra- 
tion. 'Without a parable spake He not unto them.' 
The illustratiojis \YQrQ drawn from farming, mechanics, 
commerce, social customs, domestic occupations, the 
sports of children, religious rites, history, birds, fishes, 
insects, trees, flowers, rain and sunshine, food and 
clothing, salt and fuel, dust and rust, all these and 
many more give point to his lessons. Sometimes an 
important lesson is conveyed in the constant repeti- 



94 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

tion of a single word. In that jfirst great sermon on 
the Mount, the word 'Father,' as applied to God, is 
brought in seventeen times. In that last great dis- 
course in the 14th, 15 th, and i6th of John, the word 
* Father ' is applied to God forty-five times. But it 
is not only by the fepetition of words that our Lord 
gave emphasis, but by the repetition of thought. 
' Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall 
find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For 
every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh 
findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.' 

''Our Lord often gave light and shadow to His 
teaching by the force cf contrast. He contrasted the 
service of God and mammon, and the two ways, the 
two builders, the good and the corrupt tree, the sin- 
gle and the evil eye, the treasure on earth and in 
heaven. 

^^ Forcible questions were often used to arrest atten- 
tion. ' If ye love them which love you, what reward 
have ye ? ' ' What man is there of you wiio if his son 
ask bread, will he give him a stone ? ' ' Why behold- 
est thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? ' 

"Not unfrequently Jesus aroused attention by 
putting the truth in the form of paradox. ' If the 
light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that 
darkness.' Again, He gave precepts so condensed 
that once heard they could not be forgotten. ' Love 
your enemies.' ' Swear not at all.' 

" The subject matter was always important. Jesus 
Christ always had something to say. He was never 
trifling, never light. 



Worcester. 95 

"A sociable and approachable man, He made Him- 
self accessible to all classes, and was ready to accept 
the invitations of any. "While fully alive to the joys 
of friendship. He could turn aside from homes like 
Bethany, and be guest with Publicans or Pharisees 
whose company was less congenial. 

'' He was always ready to attend to those who 
needed help. We never find him saying, * I have 
not time.' To spare Himself fatigue or trouble 
never entered His thought. He could turn aside 
from busy occupation to heal a servant or restore a 
little girl. Crowds hung upon His lips, yet Jesus 
was equally ready to speak to one. Mary, Nicode- 
mus, the woman of Samaria, the lawyer, the rich 
young man, Simon the Pharisee, Zaccheus, all re- 
ceived in turn His teaching individually. His love 
shone out in acts of thoughtful kindness and in 
tender words. 

''His life was full of untiring activity and energy, 
yet there was no hurry. Whence sprang this holy 
calm ? Was it from those hours of prayer ? ' Rising 
up a great while before day, He departed into a 
solitary place, and there prayed.' * He went up into 
a mountain to pray.' ' He withdrew Himself into 
the wilderness and prayed.' * He continued all 
night in prayer to God.' Fellow teachers, if we 
wish to keep calm and strong for work we must be 
much with God. The more work, the more need of 
prayer. 'I have so much upon me,' said Luther, 
' that I cannot get on without three hours of prayer a 
day.' 

" Our Saviour was discriminating. He did not give 



g6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

meat to babes, nor cram them with more than they 
could digest. There was never any one like Him for 
rightly dividing the word of truth. The bruised 
reed He did not break, nor quench the dimly-burn- 
ing flax. 

"Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. Herein lies 
the secret of the teacher's and preacher's power. 
The disciples received power after the Holy Spirit 
came upon them, and it was when filled with the 
Spirit that they were enabled to speak with such 
convincing clearness and authority that multitudes 
believed." 

While Stanley Pumphrey thus clearly exalts Christ 
as the Model Teacher, he by no means sets Him 
forth as ojily a. human teacher. *' Christ describes 
Himself as the final arbiter of human destiny. He 
gives commands with Divine authority, and makes 
promises in His own name that God only could ful- 
fil. All this is perfectly harmonious and perfectly 
explicable if we only accept His own statement, ' He 
that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.' " 

In 1874 Stanley worked vigorously to assist the 
Moravians in their great missionary enterprise. He 
had been interested for years in their self-denying 
efforts in Greenland and Labrador. Their Mission 
Fund that year showed a deficiency of ^4,254, and 
the executive were looking forward to difficulties of 
a serious nature in the prosecution of their work. 
Then came the loss of their missionary vessel in June 
on the Mosquito coast. Central America, which great- 
ly added to their perplexities. An appeal was issued 
asking Christian friends to come to their aid that the 



Worcester. 97 

Lord's work might not suffer which He had entrusted 
to them. One day in the early autumn he made his 
way to the office in London, and knocking, was 
ushered into the presence of the secretary, the Rev. 
H. E. Shawe, They were soon absorbed in conver- 
sation and in enquiries respecting the Moravian 
Mission work generally, and the causes of their pres- 
ent financial perplexities. After discussing these 
matters pretty fully, and obtaining all the practical 
information possible, Stanley said, " God has put it 
into my heart to try and help you in your difficulty, 
and I wish to obtain all needful information before 
setting to work." The secretary was much touched 
by the kind loving way in which he spoke of his in- 
terest and sympathy in their missionary work, and 
in the brethren and sisters engaged in it, and an- 
swered, '^ I assure you we are very grateful for your 
proffered assistance. The prayerful sympathy of a 
Christian brother like yourself is very precious to 
us, even if the effort you make is not attended with 
success of a very striking character." Stanley quietly 
remarked, '' It is on my mind that the Lord will give 
me ;^2,ooo for you. Shall we kneel down together 
and ask Him ?" 

They did so. Stanley engaged in prayer, simple 
and child-like, and so full of faith that when they 
rose from their knees the secretary's heart was 
cheered with the assurance that '' according to his 
faith," Stanley would indeed be enabled to raise the 
sum he had named. 

He lost no time in setting to work, and worked 
hard at it, preparing a circular stating the circum- 
5 



98 Memories of Stanley Pumpkrey. 

stances, and writing letters to a large number of 
Friends with whom he was personally acquainted, 
and by the end of the financial year, March, 1875, he 
had been instrumental in bringing in the sum of 
^1,494 17s. 4d. towards the deficiency of the Mora- 
vians. 

The next year a further sum of jQio^ 8s. 9d. was 
paid in by him for the same object. A further sum 
of about ;^5oo extraordinary subscriptions towards 
a new ship for the Mosquito coast was also received 
through his influence and as a direct result of his 
appeal. 

Stanley Pumphrey again made his way to the 
Moravian Missionary office, and went through the 
accounts with the secretary, his face shining with de- 
light as he found that actually more than the ^Qz^- 
000 asked for had graciously been sent. Again they 
knelt down, and with deeply moved hearts thanked 
God for His full answer to their prayer. 

We have already seen how in boyhood Stanley 
was influenced for good by '' the pure and gentle 
life " of his beloved sister Helen. This sister had 
now for some years been married to William Clark 
Eddington. The first seven years of their married 
life were spent at Worcester ; and in 187 1 they re- 
moved to Guildford, mainly with a view to her hus- 
band prosecuting his art as a landscape painter amid 
the lovely scenery in Surrey. Stanley gave his 
brother-in-law a cordial welcome into the family cir- 
cle, encouraging him to devote himself to his profes- 
sion as an artist ; being so fond of art himself, he 
regularly frequented the picture galleries in London 



Worcester. 99 

when opportunity presented, and his judgment and 
art criticism were often helpful and cheering to one 
who made it his life-work. Five little children came 
one by one ; and in 1875 the Eddingtons removed to 
Harlech in the vicinity of the mountain tarns and 
high moorlands of North Wales. The welfare of this 
beloved sister and all that pertained to her, lay very 
near Stanley's heart. '* I have seen Helen often 
since she married," writes a friend, ''with little frail 
children clinging round her, to whom she was every- 
thing." Whatever she was doing, gardening, wash- 
ing tea-things, making beds, cooking, and sewing, 
the children were round her, the elder ones early 
learning to make themselves useful. The oldest, a 
frail girl, was soon called away, as the loving mother 
expressed it, 

" An angel visited the fair earth 
And bore our flower away." 

At the time to which we have now arrived there were 
two boys and tv/o girls left. The mother meanwhile 
was attacked with hemorrhage, consumption set in, 
and the family returned to Worcester. " Oh, Caro- 
line," exclaimed Helen one day, as at her sister's re- 
quest she lay down tired out, '' I am going so fast, 
and it is so hard to leave you all." 

Stanley felt the trial keenly, for his sister abounded 
in that quiet holy life that shines most brightly at 
at home. ^^ JSFo condemnation noiv^'' she said, ^^sooti no 
separaiio?t" When very ill and weak she bid her 
sister, '' Go down and set the children to a good 
romp, and put all the doors open that I may hear 



100 Meinories of Stanley PumpJirey. 

them," for the merry voices from below were " moth- 
er's music " to her. 

Stanley was far from home when his sister passed 
away to be with the Lord, but his heart's affections 
were so bound up with her that her life-story was an 
important factor in his, and the four motherless 
children at Worcester ever found in him an intense 
sympathizer. 

There had been gradually ripening in Stanley 
Pumphrey's mind a deeply settled conviction that the 
Lord was calling him to service in America, and that 
probably for years he would be called to labour among 
the Christian churches in that land. The time was 
now approaching when after the manner of Friends, 
this important prospect of service should be thrown 
before the meetings with which he w^as connected, 
for the serious consideration of his fellow-members. 
But running alongside this prospect of future Gos- 
pel work, Stanley believed it well for him to marry 
again. The friend whom he had chosen was one 
who had already been diligently at work in the vil- 
lages in her own district, Sarah, the daughter of Jon- 
athan and Elizabeth Grubb of Sudbury. He justly 
felt in offering his hand to one he so dearly loved, 
with the immediate prospect, on his part, of some 
years absence from home, that he was asking her to 
make sacrifices of her own personal comfort not to 
be easily estimated. He therefore hesitated in claim- 
ing from her more than she might feel called upon 
to surrender. Jonathan Grubb was well known 
throughout the British Isles as an earnest Gospel 
minister and zealous temperance advocate, and it 



Worcester. lOi 

was no light matter to ask his daughter to engage 
herself to one who was proposing forthwith to absent 
himself for years on foreign service. 

In the autumn of 1874, in writing to his sister 
Lucy, Stanley Pumphrey thus enters into the con- 
sideration of this proposed union ; — " My visit to 
Sudbury was very pleasant and one long to be re- 
membered. I had considerable opportunity of being 
with Sarah, and was especially thankful for an hour of 
prayer we had together. We were very often with one 
another, and there was none of the reserve that might 
have been feared from our slight personal intercourse. 
I told her that the claims of the work of the ministry 
I thankfully accept as paramount to all others, and 
I have told the Lord that I am quite willing to give 
up the thought of ever having her, if He sees it 
would hinder the service that He is pointing to either 
of us. My love for her continues strong and deep. 
This has been a safeguard to me as I have gone 
about, and I have no doubt it w411 be a help to me in 
America to have my affections anchored. I can see 
how great a help she might be made to me, and how 
the Lord might bless us in united work. I see, too, 
what a rest it may be to both of us to be plighted 
to one another in mutual love. Can we trust the 
Lord to give us patience through what may very 
possibly be the years of hope deferred ? and can we 
trust Him to provide all that will be needful for our 
outward wants, if He at last unites us ? May the 
Lord guide us, and may His will be done." 

A few months later he again writes from Colches- 
ter to his sister on the same subject : — '* Sarah's de- 



102 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

cision is made, and we are now engaged to one an- 
other. We have felt it a solemn thing to enter into 
a covenant that must have such an important bearing 
on our future lives and on our service for our Lord. 
I believe we are both well satisfied that the thing has 
proceeded from the Lord." 

One of those problems that now and again occur 
in life then arose. Several of his friends advised 
him to marry before sailing to America, and to take 
his wife with him. In corresponding with his brother 
in the spring of 1875, he enunciates this diflaculty. 
*' Our engagement is now generally talked off. I am 
a little disquieted at the number of recommendations 
I get to marr}'- at once, and to take Sarah with me 
to America. When my mind is made up to a course 
of action I do not easily change, and dislike having 
to reconsider it, but I am not so obstinate as to be un- 
willing to think of reasons that may be urged for an 
opposite course. 

" Sarah's fellowship might be a great help in the 
work. Prayer and conference with her would be 
strengthening. It would be a help too, considering 
the state of my health, to have some one to look 
after me, and clearly no one could do this like a 
wife, or give the same helpful care in case of illness. 
There is also the unsettling influence of protracted 
engagement and its possible effect upon us both. 

*'On the other hand it seems to me there are ob- 
jections so obvious that I wonder my advisers can 
so completely ignore them. I do not fear the un- 
settling effect of long engagement for myself ; I 
have looked forward to it too long. As regards 



Worcester. 103 

health, I think there is less probability of Sarah 
standing the fatigue than of my doing it, and that 
it is more likely she would be an anxiety to me 
in our journeyings than I to her. The important 
thing is to know the mind of God, and with regard 
to this, I do pray that we may come to a clear and 
united judgment." 

It was finally concluded that Stanley Pumphrey 
should start for America alone, and on the 8th April, 
1875, he laid his prospect of service before the Worces- 
tershire and Shropshire Monthly Meeting of Friends 
at Worcester. He was quite unwell at the time, and 
went to and from the meeting in a closed carriage. 
At the commencement of the meeting he offered a 
most solemn prayer imploring divine guidance, and 
was followed by an address from Edward Pease, of 
Bewdley, on the words "The eyes of all wait upon 
thee." Stanley first returned the minute granted him 
for religious service in the eastern counties and in 
Ireland, and gave a brief summary of the way the 
Lord had led him. He then again rose and said : — 
** For eight years I have believed that the Lord was 
preparing my heart to go to America, and as a con- 
sequence five years ago I concluded to relinquish 
business. I have felt that my work in Ireland has 
been calculated, in many ways, to assist in preparing 
me for this more extended field of labour. I do not 
know how long the engagement may take me, it may 
probably be for years. Nothing is very definitely be- 
fore my mind respecting the course it may assume, 
but probably it will be to work in the compass of 
Baltimore and North Carolina Yearly Meetings dur- 



104 Memories of Sta^tley Pmnphrey. 

ing next winter. I greatly feel the responsibility of 
the undertaking and my own unfitness for the work, 
but I believe that bodily, mental and spiritual strength 
is always given for the work God calls us to do for 
Him. He who commissions His servants has prom- 
ised to give them His needed help. I have much 
felt the severance involved in leaving the meeting at 
"Worcester and so many of my dear friends, but the 
Lord has given me many indications that He Himself 
is calling me to the work, and several brethren and 
sisters from the other side of the Atlantic have spoken 
to me, expressing their conviction that the Lord w^ould 
call me to visit their land. I believe the time has 
come for me to lay the matter before you for your 
prayerful consideration, and whatever your conclu- 
sion is, may the will of the Lord be done." 

Stanley Pumphrey then sat down, and as he 
thought of all that the separation involved, burst 
into tears. Henry Whiting was the first to break 
the solemn silence that followed. He expressed his 
sympathy, but felt much discouraged at the thought 
of Worcester Meeting, and of all the work that was 
needed in the immediate neighbourhood, and how 
few there were to do it. Lucy Westcombe then rose, 
and said that she had long known of her dear nephew's 
concern for America, and the more she had thought 
about it, the more clearly she believed that it was the 
right thing. William Spriggs, Martha A. Binyon 
and Sarah Lindsay expressed their sympathy and 
unity, and their sorrow at losing Stanley's presence 
from among them so soon again, yet hoping that the 
meeting would liberate him for the service. Many 



Worcester. 105 

others spoke to the same purport, and Edward Pease 
concluded with prayer that blessing and preservation 
might attend him throughout his travels. A certifi- 
cate was prepared, which was afterwards authentica- 
ted by the Quarterly Meeting, and is as follows : — 

" To the Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Meetings 
of Friends in America, to whom this may 
come." 

** Dear Friends, — Our dear friend Stanley Pum- 
phrey, a minister in unity and good esteem amongst 
us, has laid before us a prospect of religious service, 
which has long been before him, to visit in Gospel 
love the meetings within your limits, and to attend 
to such other service as may be required of him in 
the course of the engagement. The concern of our 
beloved friend has received our serious consideration, 
and much unity and sympathy having been expressed 
therewith, we think it right to liberate him for the 
service, for which we believe the Lord has been qual- 
ifying and preparing him. We commend him to 
your care, desiring that his labours may be blest to 
your comfort and edification, and that he may expe- 
rience in all his movements divine guidance and pro- 
tection, and return with peace when he feels that he 
has fulfilled his work. 

*' Signed by direction and on behalf of Worcester- 
shire and Shropshire Monthly Meeting, women 
Friends being present, held at Worcester by adjourn- 
ment the 15th day of 4th month, 1875. 

" Thomas Westcombe, Clerk." 
5* 



io6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

One of the privileges Stanley Pumphrey had en- 
joyed for several years was attending the yearly 
Meetings in London. During the Meetings of 1874, 
Deborah Thomas from America paid a visit to the 
Men's Meeting during its sittings, and in entire ig- 
norance of what was passing in Stanley's heart ut- 
tered words that might appear almost prophetic. She 
said, *' If it had not been for some of your members 
from England visiting America, I do not think I 
should ever have come to visit you. But now there 
are but few of you that are visiting America. Is it 
not laid upon some of you young men to go ? Does 
not the great ocean roll between you and your 
field of offering ? . Do not be long about it, for I be- 
lieve the Lord will give time to do it in, and not much 
merer 

At the London Yearly Meeting of 1875, Stanley 
Pumphrey's certificate for America was duly endorsed 
by the Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, and on 
the 28th May he paid a farewell visit to the Women's 
Yearly Meeting, addressing them from the words of 
Christ, " Fear not, I am he that liveth and was dead, 
and behold, I am alive for evermore." ''The Lord 
speaks of Himself as the ' I am.' Time to Him is 
not past or future as with us, but present. To His 
disciples he says, ' Lo, / am with you always even 
unto the end of the world.' And to Moses the words 
were addressed, ^ I am that I am.' Thus shalt thou 
say unto the children of Israel, ' / ayn hath sent me 
unto you.' We rejoice in the work He has done for 
us, that He died for our sins, but there is strength 
for us also in the thought that He liveth. He is with 



Worcester. 107 

us always, so we need fear nothing. We have no 
right to fear. Look off unto Jesus. 

** Perhaps some of us are inclined to respond, * Yes, 
but I have failed so often.' It is Satan that would 
thus discourage us. Look off unto Jesus. He is able 
to do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we 
can ask or think. I wish that we might all realize 
the prayer of the apostle, * For this cause I bow my 
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of 
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 
that He would grant you, according to the riches of 
His glory, to be strengthened with might by his 
Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in 
your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with 
all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and 
depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with 
all the fulness of God.' Let us have faith in these 
things for ourselves. Excuse not yourselves from 
the blessing, saying, * Lam unworthy.' Of ourselves 
we are unworthy. It is for no merit of purs that we 
are blest. It is all for His sake and in His name. 
Many of you desire these things, not for yourselves 
alone, but for others. Go on praying. Your influ- 
ence is great, you do not realize how great. You do 
not know the result of a loving word, if you would 
but speak to your brothers and your cousins about 
these things. A few words fitly spoken sometimes 
do far more than the long sermon. It is the weak 
things of this world that God hath chosen to con- 
found the things that are mighty. 



io8 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

*' I would plead with you who are sisters to help 
your brothers in every way you can. You do not 
know all the dangers and temptations that surround 
them. You cannot know how difl&cult it is for them 
to take a firm stand as Christians. You know not 
how hard it often is for the business man to be a 
thoroughly consistent Christian in his business. But 
I know what a business man has to cope with. There- 
fore help your brothers. Pray for them and with 
them, that they may know the fulfilment of the 
promise, ' The Lord shall preserve thy going out and 
thy coming in from this time forth for evermore.' 

" Permit me to say a few words respecting your 
pleasures. Recreation has its right place. Nothing 
in the New Testament is definitely stated as to which 
pleasures are to be avoided, although there must 
have been those of which the apostles could not ap- 
prove. But one great principle on all such matters 
is laid down. * Whether ye eat or drink, or whatso- 
ever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' This is 
enough. Can you give God thanks in them ? This 
should be our rule of action in all our engagements. 

'' Again, respecting your reading, if you feel that 
God would not have you read a book, then leave it 
alone. This is a simple rule, and I need not say 
much more. I do not look upon books as dead, 
for they are the living thoughts of men. Some 
may think these words hard, but if we would be 
Christ's disciples, we must take up our cross and 
deny ourselves. 

" We are utterly mistaken about our cross if we 
think 



Worcester. 109 

* Far heavier its weight must surely be, 
Than those of others which I daily see ; 
Oh ! if I might another burden choose 
Methinks I would not fear my crown to lose.* 

** To choose our own path or cross must always 
prove a failure. Let God choose for us, — 

' And then with lightened eyes and willing feet, 
Again I'll turn my earthly cross to meet ; 
And there, in the prepared appointed way, 
Listening to hear and ready to obey, 
A cross I quickly find of plainest form, 
With only words of love inscribed thereon ; 
And so henceforth my own desire shall be 
That He who knows me best may choose for me.* 

** I can truly say, with Rutherford, that the Cross 
of Christ is the lightest burden that I ever have to 
bear. It is such a burden as sails are to a ship, 
or wings to a bird, to waft the soul onward to 
heaven. 

*'Are there some here who are not yet decided 
for Christ? Oh, come at once to Him. It may 
be long ere I have the privilege of meeting you 
again. Remember the cause for which I cross the 
Atlantic. The church at home must feel its re- 
sponsibility in my going. The church at home has 
a share in the work, and will, I trust, pray for the 
errand and for the messenger. I shall often re- 
member you when far distant, and I ask you to 
remember me in your prayers." 

Many were in tears as they listened to this part- 
ing address. The large meeting was baptized in 
prayer, and one offering after another ascended that 



no Memories of Stanley Pumpkrey. 

Stanley Pumphrey might be surrounded with the 
Lord's blessing, and kept from all evil. 

"These partings make us sad," Stanley after- 
wards wrote to one of his relatives, *' but I accept 
my mission thankfully, as I doubt not you also can 
for me. When we really give up anything for the 
Lord's sake, I believe He always gives us a full re- 
turn, and I am not afraid of being unhappy, or that 
you will be. There will be trials and sorrows no 
doubt, but His grace does much more abound. 
The Lord reigns. I hope to be of good courage, 
my heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BALTIMORE. 

Stanley Pumphrey sailed from Queenstown in com- 
pany with Allen Jay in the Illinois on the 25th Sep- 
tember, 1875, and embarked upon the great work of 
his life. The varied experiences he had passed 
through enabled him to sympathise with men of 
business, with family cares and domestic sorrows, 
and with the needs of the churches. His own heart 
was resting on Christ, and he went forth determined 
to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

"Sailing up the Delaware," Stanley writes, '*my 
dear brother Allen Jay sat by me on the deck. We 
said but little to one another, for the hearts of both 
of us were full. Allen Jay was returning home from 
a service in which the Lord had greatly blessed him ; 
I was entering on one, the responsibility of which I 
felt exceedingly, but in which I was trusting for the 
help and blessing of God. My thoughts went back 
two hundred years, as I pictured William Penn sail- 
ing up that same river, with a band of men and 
women driven from their own land by persecution, 
resolved to try, on this virgin soul, ' the holy experi- 
ment ' of founding a State, the corner-stone of whose 
polity should be liberty of conscience, and in which 
the endeavour should be made to carry out the divine 



112 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

precepts of the Saviour in His Sermon on the Mount, 
of peace and good-will towards all men. William 
Penn had large hopes for the prosperity of the State 
he founded, but how greatly beyond his utmost ex- 
pectation have his hopes been exceeded. The im- 
press of his mind remains on the political institutions 
of America, and is seen also in the very form of her 
cities, which have so largely been copied from his 
own plan of Philadelphia. A leading American 
author has remarked that while in the early history 
of their country, the influence of the Puritans held 
the first rank, the influence of the Friends is second. 
Bancroft, in his very interesting chapter on ' The 
People called Quakers in the United States,' has en- 
deavoured to do justice to that influence. Some of 
us may have been ready to charge him with exag- 
geration in his statement, that at the close of the 
seventeenth century, Pennsylvania, West New Jersey, 
Delaware, Rhode Island, and to some extent. North 
Carolina, were Quaker States ; yet the statement is 
borne out by Samuel Bownas, who, writing in 1728, 
makes an almost identical remark, at least as regards 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. 

*' It must, however, be remarked, that the whole 
population then was very small ; some sixteen months 
sufficed him to visit all the Friends' Meetings in those 
States with very slight exception, most of them re- 
peatedly, and several of them many times. The fact 
that in the century and a half that has elapsed since 
the visit of Samuel Bownas, we have relatively so 
completely lost ground in those States, is a humiliat- 
ing one, and one that may well call for the thought- 



Baltimore. 113 

ful consideration of some historian, since the answer 
could scarcely fail to be fraught with instruction. In 
the States where Friends are most numerous, they 
are but an insignificant fraction of the population, 
even in Indiana scarcely numbering more than one 
in eighty. 

" With regard to the numerical strength of the 
different Yearly Meetings on the American continent, 
Indiana stands first, with 18,000 members (in round 
numbers) ; Western second, with 12,000 ; Iowa third, 
with 9000 ; Philadelphia and North Carolina have 
5000 each ; New England, Kansas, Ohio, and New 
York, 4000, more or less ; Canada has 1600, and Bal- 
timore about 600 only ; giving a total membership 
of about 67,000. 

'* They may be divided into three main divisions ; 
the South, including North Carolina, Tennessee, and 
Arkansas, with about 5000 members ; the East, in- 
cluding the Yearly Meetings east of the Alleghanies, 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Canada, and 
New England, with about 15,000 members ; and the 
great West, comprising Ohio, Indiana, Western, 
Iowa and Kansas Yearly Meetings, with about 47,000 
members. The Wilbur Friends, as they are called 
for distinction, are chiefly to be found in Eastern 
Ohio, though there is one good-sized Quarterly meet- 
ing in Ohio, and a small remnant of the 800 who 
separated in New England, numbering altogether 
about 4000. The recent separatists in Western, Iowa, 
and Kansas Yearly Meetings are about 1000. The 
followers of Elias Hicks claim 28,000 members, of 
whom one half belong to Philadelphia, where they 



114 Memories of Sta7tley Pumphrey. 

are a large and influential body, half the remainder 
belong to Baltimore and New York, and the rest to 
their four very small Yearly meetings, which include 
western New York and Canada, Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois. The whole number of persons therefore, 
who claim to be Friends in America is just about 
100,000. 

" With regard to the geographical distribution of 
Friends in the United States, we find on a map that 
large sections of the country are a complete blank. 
Taking that great section extending 700 miles north- 
ward of the Gulf of Mexico, we should not find a 
single established meeting. In the Virginias there 
are hardly any, in Kentucky none ; in the populous 
manufacturing State of Connecticut and in Vermont 
scarcely any ; in the rapidly-rising State of Michigan, 
only one Quarterly meeting ; in the great agricultu- 
ral State of Illinois, there are only two Quarterly 
meetings, both of them on the border of Indiana ; in 
Missouri, a very few meetings in the south-west corner; 
in Wisconsin and Minnesota, a few meetings ; and, as 
regards the whole of the vast region west of Kansas, 
the Society of Friends is represented by one or two 
meetings in Colorado and Oregon, and a very few in 
California. Even in those States where Friends are 
most numerous, they are often confined to limited 
localities. Thus in Pennsylvania and New Jersey 
there are few outside a radius of forty miles from 
Philadelphia ; in New England they occupy a strip 
reaching fifty miles inland from the coast ; and even 
in Indiana, out of its ninety counties, there are but 
thirty in which there are meetings of Friends. 



Baltimore. 1 1 5 

" Friends in America are almost entirely an agri- 
cultural people. Speaking generally, nine-tenths 
of English Friends are engaged in commercial pur- 
suits, in America about the same proportion are 
farmers. The number of flourishing meetings in 
the cities is small. There are about 2000 Friends, 
independently of the Hicksites, in Philadelphia ; 
about 1000 in Richmond, Indiana ; 500 in New York 
and Brooklyn ; 300 in Baltimore ; 200 each in In- 
dianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Bedford, and 
Lynn ; 100 each in Providence and Lawrence. The 
principal Quaker centres are in the country districts. 
Connected with this view of the Society of Friends 
in America, is the fact that outside a very few centres 
there is not much wealth among them. There is 
wealth in Philadelphia, but owing to the unhappily 
isolated position of that Yearly Meeting, the wealth 
is only available to a limited extent for the general 
interests of the Society. The financial responsi- 
bilities of New York, New England, and Baltimore 
Yearly Meetings rest mainly on the shoulders of a 
few, and west of the Alleghanies wealthy Friends are 
to be counted by units. 

'' Closely connected with this is the state of educa- 
tion. A large proportion of the Friends in the West 
send their children to the country day schools, which 
are often only open in the winter months because 
the labour of the children is needed at home dur- 
ing the summer. There are, however, many who 
exert themselves commendably to secure the higher 
education which academies like Spiceland and Wil- 
mington, or colleges like Earlham and Penn supply, 



Il6 Memories of Stanley PumpJirey. 

yet with a great proportion of the members, the 
education does not go beyond that which is furnished 
in the day schools. With regard to mental culture 
in mature life, there appears to be but little reading 
beyond the newspapers and periodicals. The book- 
shelves (where they have any) are very scantily fur- 
nished, and anything worth the name of a library is 
rarely seen." 

The first Yearly meeting that Stanley Pumphrey 
attended was Baltimore. **This is the smallest of 
all the Yearly meetings, yet extending over a wide 
area from the heart of Pennsylvania to the south- 
east corner of Virginia, a distance of about 500 
miles. Of its twelve particular meetings or congre- 
gations, Baltimore is the only considerable one, half 
the members of the Yearly meeting residing in this 
city. With one or two exceptions, the other meet- 
ings are extremely small. Yet the Friends of this 
Yearly meeting have done good service, and Francis 
T. King has been like a father to North Carolina 
Yearly meeting, and has, in his zeal to help them, 
made thirty journeys to the South since the war. 

" Why has Baltimore become so much reduced ? 
The answer to this question takes us back to the sad- 
dest chapter in Quaker annals, the Hicksite separa- 
tion of 1828, which tore Baltimore Yearly meeting 
to pieces, and rent from our communion more than 
half the members in Philadelphia and New York. 
The Hicksites retain so many of the characteristics 
of our Society that they are often very much con- 
founded with us in the popular mind. Indeed I have 
heard Friends from England say, that after going to 



Baltimore. 117 

their meetings, they could see but little difference. I 
wish I could agree with them. I desire to speak 
with fairness and kindness, for they have been kind 
and courteous to me. They have greeted me with 
warmth and have thanked me for my visits ; they 
have even done what I had no right to expect from 
them, they have made appointments for me and free- 
ly lent me their meeting-houses. I gladly acknowl- 
edge this, but if I am asked, * Is there any radical 
doctrinal difference between us ? ' I am bound to say 
there is. I attended one of their meetings, preach- 
ing just as I should elsewhere, what I believe to be 
the truth. My address was largely based on the 53rd 
chapter of Isaiah, as I spoke of Him, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, on whom were laid the iniquities of us all, 
who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised 
for our iniquities. When I finished, the Friend who 
sat at the head of the meeting, and a leading minis- 
ter of their Yearly meeting, rose and said, that he 
could accept what the English Friend had said, pro- 
vided it were understood in a strictly spiritual sense. 
It was true that God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that is. He sent Christ a light 
into the hearts of all, and by obedience to its mani- 
festations, the evil was brought into subjection, the 
good raised into dominion, and thus we were brought 
into a condition of acceptance with God." 

This schism in Baltimore, therefore, largely ac- 
counts for the smallness of that Yearly meeting. But 
the 600 members that are left represent a large amount 
of earnest good work. *' Baltimore has sometimes 
been spoken of as the parent Yearly meeting of the 



Ii8 Memories of Stanley Puniphrey. 

West. Technically this is correct, since Ohio Yearly 
meeting was set off from Baltimore. The tide of 
emigration set westward across the Alleghanies about 
the beginning of this century, but it was not till 1813 
that Ohio Yearly meeting was established. Indiana 
followed in 182 1, Western Yearly meeting in 1858, 
Iowa in 1864, and Kansas in 1873. But the real par- 
ent Yearly meeting is North Carolina. I believe 
that fully half the Friends in the West are of Caro- 
lina descent, and many of the most prominent men, 
like Charles F. Coffin, Dr. Dougan Clark, and Dr. 
William Nicholson, are natives of Carolina. When 
the pioneer settlers established themselves in the 
West, the whole of the broad district, extending 500 
miles from the Alleghanies to the prairies of Illi- 
nois, was unbroken forest. The toil of clearing the 
forest and making farms was severe, and the circum- 
stances attending the settlers must be remembered 
in forming an estimate of the population in the West. 
That such civilization should now be found where in 
the memory of the living there was nothing but a 
savage wilderness, must be regarded as a marv^el of 
human enterprise and industry." 

Francis T. King is clerk of Baltimore Yearly 
Meeting, and Julia Valentine clerk of the Women's 
Meeting. The members are very united. Stanley 
writes : — 

*'On First-day I rose not feeling very well in body 
and decidedly low in my mind, in fact I had what 
Spurgeon calls a ' minister's fainting fit,' but I have 
found as he says he has done, and as I suspect Paul 
found before him, that such sicknesses are not alto- 



Baltimore. ' 119 

gether to be deplored, for they draw us nearer to 
God. The fine new meeting house built of brick at 
a cost of 46,000 dollars, was well filled, for many of 
the Hicksites and others like to come, I took for 
my text, ' The Lord is my strength and song, and He 
is become my salvation. He is my God and I will 
prepare Him an habitation.' Just as I had finished, 
the alarm bell sounded ' Fire ' from a neighbouring 
steeple, and this gave the next speaker her subject. 

'■'■ During the sittings of the Yearly Meeting there 
was a lively discussion on Teetotalism, and an en- 
quiry was directed to be made as to how many of 
their members are using intoxicating drinks. There 
seemed to be no question in the mind of any Friend 
present as to the desirability of all being complete 
abstainers, and we heard some strong expressions on 
the ' immorality of touching the accursed thing.' A 
Friend from North Carolina told us that years ago 
there were some hundreds using it in their Yearly 
Meeting, but that last year the delinquents were re- 
duced to one. Dr. Rhoads spoke of the way in which 
the concern was carried out in Philadelphia, and how 
affectionately and earnestly they are wont to plead 
with their members on the subject. On the consid- 
eration of the state of the Society, special reference 
was made to the query which goes down to the sub- 
ordinate meetings on the subject of reading. 'Are 
Friends careful to guard against the introduction of 
improper books into their families?' Dr. Rhoads 
urged the necessity of religious teaching, and the 
importance of Friends meeting together for the read- 
ing of Holy Scripture." 



I20 Memories of Stanley PiunpJirey . 

Stanley Pumphrey visited Baltimore again on his 
return from North Carolina in February, 1876, and 
had meetings morning and evening all the time he 
was there. They were well attended and he enjoyed 
them much. Many took part in them, and he felt 
that he was amongst brethren and sisters in the 
Lord. The concluding meeting especially seemed 
full of the love of Jesus, and Stanley took as his 
keynote the lines. 

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 

In a believer's ear, 
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, 

And drives away his fear. 

He found in Francis T. King an able administra- 
tor, whose mind was full of large thoughts for the 
welfare of mankind. There had been steadily grow- 
ing up in his mind a great scheme for a more com- 
plete system of education among Friends in America, 
with a view to their becoming to a much greater ex- 
tent the educators of the country. Excluded from 
the pulpit, and engaged to a very limited extent at 
the bar or in public offices, he justly felt that there 
is no reason why Friends should not enter the more 
thoroughly into the work of education, and thus do 
much to mould the mind of the people. In Balti- 
more the remark is often made to Friends, ''Your 
word is as good as another man's bond," and lately 
individuals have been brought into the Society by 
simply beholding the upright consistency and integ- 
rity of life of the members. 

The more intimate acquaintance Stanley enjoyed 



Baltimore, 121 

with the Friends there, the more cordially he appre- 
ciated them, and after repeated visits he heartily re- 
echoed the opinion Elizabeth L. Comstock had ex- 
pressed to him, ''Thou wilt find a loving and lovely 
circle of Friends at Baltimore." 
6 



CHAPTER IX. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

** I HAD to rise soon after three o'clock," writes 
Stanley Pumphrey on the 4th November, 1875, "to 
come down into North Carolina, At the station I 
met my good friend Robert Haines, of Germantown, 
who has kindly undertaken to accompany me, and 
whom I thankfully accept as the companion of the 
Lord's providing. We were finally turned out with 
our baggage on the line in the middle of a wood, 
and after a little reconnoitring found a wagon that 
was ready to take our belongings to New Garden, 
while we tramped. 

" New Garden is a school-house in the midst of the 
woods. The large Meeting House lately erected 
stands near by, but there is no other house in sight. 

'' Our lodging room is fitted up for six friends, and 
has one jug and bason and soap dish as the comple- 
ment of earthenware. The Yearly Meeting assem- 
bled on the following day, the wagons driving up 
with their curious projecting roofs, and loaded with 
the families of Friends, and with bedding, provi- 
sions, and other necessaries of life. Many sleep in 
the wagons. Some found lodgings a mile or two 
off, and the school-house is stretched to its utmost 
capacity, with shake-downs spread over the school- 



North Carolina. 123 

room floor. We only had six in our room, except 
that one night we made up a bed with our wrappers 
for a friend on the floor. Yardley Warner was the 
elder brother, and was ready for any emergency ; and 
then there were Charles Hubbard, Dr. Garner of Ten- 
nessee, Edward Scull of Philadelphia, and ourselves. 

" Every one speaks of the great advance that has 
been made since the war, but the Yearly Meeting 
presents the appearance of a company in the position 
of small farmers and agricultural labourers. The 
sun-bonnets on the women's side that were universal 
a few years ago are fast disappearing, and some of 
the young women go in for ribbons. The proportion 
of Friends wearing the conventional dress of the 
Society is not large. 

" In the war of Independence, a battle took place 
close by, the wounded soldiers were carried into the 
old Meeting House, where the stains of blood are 
still shown on the floor, and many were buried in 
the adjoining graveyard under a large oak tree. 
The New Meeting House is capable of holding 800 
people on the ground floor, with a small gallery run- 
ning round three sides where the coloured people 
sit. On First-day the house was crowded in every 
part, and probably 1200 were present, many standing 
the whole time. The usual order of the meetings 
through the week was, at half-past eight in the 
morning for prayer, confession and religious en- 
quiry. At ten o'clock the Yearly Meeting sat down 
for business till two o'clock. In the afternoon the 
various committees were held, and in the evening a 
conference on some special subject. 



124 Memories of Stanley Piimphrey. 

"Carolina Friends have a First-day School in con- 
nection with every meeting. Many besides Friends 
attend them. Friends have also established many 
Day Schools, which are a great blessing in the State." 

Friends have for several generations been estab- 
lished in this State. Williamson, the historian, says, 
*'A considerable part of the inhabitants were of the 
people called Quakers." There were also' many in 
South Carolina, some in Georgia, and some in Ten- 
nessee, all included in one Yearly Meeting. 

The kindly influence of their principles extended 
throughout the colonies, many of the members of the 
legislature being Friends. During the dissensions 
and disorders prevailing in 1695, John Archdale, a 
Friend, one of the proprietors of the Colony, "a man 
of great prudence, sagacity, and command of temper, 
was appointed Governor of Carolina ; he was vested 
with authority so great that the proprietors thought 
fit to have it recorded in his commission, that such 
powers were not to be claimed as a precedent by fu- 
ture governors." By his influence exemption from 
bearing arms was granted to all who felt restrained 
by religious principle. The whole of his conduct to- 
ward the Indians was influenced by justice and kind- 
ness. In speaking of the prosperity of the Colony of 
South Carolina, the Commons, assembled at Charles- 
ton, say, " We do and shall for ever be most heartily 
obliged to own it, as a production of the wisdom and 
discretion, patience and labour of the honourable 
John Archdale, Esq., our Governor." "It is worthy 
of remark that while harmony has been marred, and 
secessions have occurred in many of the Yearly Meet- 



North Carolina. 125 

ings on the American Continent, North Carolina has 
maintained its position as the advocate of sound 
Christian Doctrine, neither the spirit of misrule nor 
the principles of infidelity having found a resting 
place there." The Yearly Meetings of Ohio, West- 
ern, Indiana, and Iowa were principally established by 
Friends and their descendants from North Carolina. 

" Of the eight Quarterly Meetings composing this 
Yearly Meeting, two are across the mountains in 
Tennessee, four are situated in a district a little to 
the north of the centre of the State, one is near Golds- 
boro', and another in the north-east corner near the 
Atlantic Ocean. The influence of slavery told in- 
juriously on the whole country, and our Friends 
shared in the injurious influence. 

" The most enterprising left a worn-out soil not nat- 
urally fertile, and went west, leaving the less ener- 
getic on the old patrimonial homes. Their houses 
are often built of logs, and an upper story is the ex- 
ception. The whole domestic arrangements are on 
a scale of startling simplicity. The produce raised 
on the farm supplies the table, bread made of Indian 
corn meal, and pork, being the staple food, and the 
garments are often home spun. Allen Jay assured 
me that many of the Friends did not handle fifty dol- 
lars in the year. The entire absence of windows from 
the dwellings is by no means an unusual experience." 

After the Yearly Meeting, Stanley Pumphrey pro- 
ceeded to visit the missions in Carolina, in company 
with Robert Haines and Fernando Cartland. 

''On the Sabbath we drove to Westfield. The 
people gathered irregularly, as the sun is their only 



126 Memories of Stanley Piwiphrey. 

clock, and on the arrival of the preachers, they 
turned into the house. They hitch their horses 
to the trees all around. The Meeting Houses are 
built of logs fitted together and the joints filled up 
with mud, and some of them have all the glass out 
of the windows. We slept at Hunting Creek. The 
Friends did their best for us, seemed glad to have 
us, and I could not but enjoy being with them. My 
bedroom opened off the porch, and was eight feet by 
ten ; the window had no glass, but was protected at 
night by a shutter that sprang open and let in a 
stream of cold air. We washed out of doors, the 
morning was frosty, and the things froze while we 
were out." In these rough country districts the gos- 
pel minister is very welcome, and the people gladly 
came again and again to the meetings, for they usu- 
ally have little ministry. All round there is a strong 
feeling in favour of Friends. '' All that is wanted is 
a minister, and you might have the whole country 
round," was the remark made as the gospel messen- 
gers made their way in North Carolina. But the 
way was rough. In making for one centre, Fer- 
nando their guide, lost the track. The road looked 
fair at first, but ended in a pool with a dam right 
across the track to keep in the water. The driver, 
nothing daunted, took his horses and vehicle over 
the dam and splashed through the water till he came 
to firmer ground. Reaching a better road, they 
learnt, as they had surmised, from the first persons 
they met, that they were going in the wrong direc- 
tion. It was dark when they reached a negro's hut 
and enquired, ''Are we in the right way?" "No, 



North Carolina. 127 

you are not," answered the man of colour. " Follow 
me." He led them through the bushes till they 
came again to something like a track. " Keep on 
down here, cross the water, go up the hill, turn to 
the right, and you will find a gate that will take you 
straight." On they went, the wood becoming denser, 
the night darker, and the road steeper. At last the 
stream was crossed and the gate reached, but on 
passing through it, there was no track whatever 
right or left, only a ploughed field. But they were 
now near their quarters, and crossing the field, they 
found the homestead they were aiming for. Here, dur- 
ing the war, Joseph James Neave held a remarkable 
meeting with a number of poor fellows who were 
hiding from the conscription in the woods. The 
people seemed to drink in the words as Stanley 
Pumphrey addressed them on prayer and family 
worship, and on the Saviour's readiness to welcome 
all who would come to Him. Here again, a resi- 
dent, pastoral, teaching ministry is a great want. 

Proceeding to Factory Shops, a small settlement 
w^here there is aWesleyan chapel, they found that 
service was only held there once a month. This is 
a common arrangement in this district. Friends are, 
in many places, the only people who have public 
worship every week. 

Education is at a low ebb. Four months a year of 
schooling is all that most of the children get. The 
school session commences about the end of the year. 
The schoolmasters are not of an advanced order. ** Is 
it a King or a Queen that rules over thy country?" 
** What is her name ? " were the enquiries one of 



128 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

these schoolmasters made. '•'■ Thee sees we don't 
know a great deal, but we wish to learn," he added. 

As for the Meeting Houses, the better class are 
like barns, others are like poor sheds. They are often 
built of logs, roughly mortised together, and the 
spaces filled with mud. The lowest log is placed on 
piles of stones, and in one case the pigs had worked 
their way between these piles of stones, and rendered 
the Meeting House utterly untenantable. 

On the 15th December, 1875, Stanley writes from 
Rocky River, in the same district, w^here he called on 
a poor widow with five children, the eldest of whom 
w^as about nine years old. In reading her Bible, this 
widow came to the conclusion it was her duty to give 
the tenth of the increase of her land to the Lord. It 
was a trial to her faith, for she was very poor, but 
when the little crop was gathered in, she scrupu- 
lously set the tenth aside and handed it over to Allen 
Jay. Her neighbours told her it was fairly taking 
the bread out of the children's mouths ; but it proved 
to be the very means of bringing them help. The 
little farm was also blessed. Although the land was 
very poor, and she had no means of manuring it, she 
had a larger yield than any of her neighbours. The 
neighbours could not understand it, but she knew it 
was the Lord. 

Another widow, a Friend, living at Westfield, was 
very poor, and had nothing to depend on but her 
little plot of land. During a season of drought the 
corn was drying up, and there seemed nothing be- 
fore them but starvation. She called her children 
together, and told them to ask the Lord for rain. 



North Carolina. 129 

There seemed no sign of change of weather, but that 
night came a most refreshing shower. The farmers 
round said they had never known rain come so unex- 
pectedly before. 

As Stanley Pumphrey moved among these people, 
he says, " I spoke of the beautiful kindness of Jesus ^ in 
the raising of the son of the widow of Nain, and in 
commending his own mother to the care of John 
when He agonized on the cross. I quoted the line 
of an old English author, who calls Jesus * the first 
true gentleman that ever breathed.' As I spoke of 
these things, good old Allen Tomlinson's eyes filled 
with tears. He had never thought of our Saviour in 
this light, and he added, ' We should like thee to tell 
us these things again, they are so new to us.' In the 
evening I met an interesting company of men and 
women in the prime of life, at Bush Hill. I read the 
Book of Haggai to them. We are too ready to look 
after our own concerns first. We must look after 
our crop, and get good ceiled houses of our own. 
The Lord's house ought to be seen to some time, no 
doubt, but *the time is not come yet,' for the Lord's 
house to be built. ' Consider your ways.' * I am 
with you, saith the Lord.' 'Be strong and work.' 

* My spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not.' 

* From this time I will bless you.' " 

Arriving at Spring on the 21st December, 1875, 
Stanley says, ** This is the meeting that was once re- 
duced to a single member, who resuscitated the meet- 
ing by preaching as he thought to empty benches, but 
in reality to several listeners outside who became 
Friends. The indefiniteness of time in these parts 
6* 



130 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

sometimes caused confusion. The usual hour for 
meetings to gather is 'early candle-light,' and the 
time for breakfast is ' half an hour by sun.' 

"It was a very dark night for our meeting at 
Chatham, and the wind blew keen from the North- 
East. The Meeting House was draughty, and the 
windows had less glass than usual. One of the 
Friends used his hat as a stop-gap in one, and I lent 
mine for another window ; but an extra strong blast 
of wind sent both hats on to the floor. They were 
fixed up stronger again, and we got through the 
meeting to satisfaction and comfort. Our quarters 
were humble. The breakfast-room had no window, 
but was abundantly ventilated ; and washing out of 
.doors with the thermometer at 12° was rather a 
chilly operation. 

'' Such congregations as we have had at Spring and 
at Deep River could not have been seen two or three 
years ago, nor anything approaching to them. The 
whole appearance of the people is most creditable. 
The Carolina Friends are some of them munificent 
givers in proportion to their very limited means. 
When the new Meeting House at Spring was to be 
built, Thomas Woody came forward and said, * I will 
give a tenth of all that I possess towards it,' and he 
afterwards raised it to a sixth. When they were in 
trouble about the school debt, which had run up 
grievously, David White, a venerable man and nearly 
blind, rose and said, * Friends, the debt must be paid. 
The honour of truth is at stake. I will give a fourth 
of all that I possess,' and the old man brought down 
his staff on the floor with vehemence." 



North Carolina. 131 

On leaving Allen Jay's happy home, Stanley 
writes, *' I feel very unworthy of so much love, and 
wish to accept it as given for Jesus Christ and His 
Gospel's sake, as the fulfilment of His own promise 
(Mark x. 29, 30), the literalness of which I never so 
fully realized before. Truly it has been as though 
fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and 
lands, have been given. I wish to accept the warn- 
ing of the words that follow, 'Many that are first 
shall be last, and the last first.' It is so sadly easy to 
turn aside, and we have such a continual need of the 
'keeping ' of the Lord." 

At Piney Woods, large meetings were held. " In 
the morning, over 400 were present, and the men's 
side was so full that we had to arrange the little 
boys along the footboards of the galleries, which, as 
it kept them under the eye of their elders, promoted 
their good behaviour. I spoke from the words, ' We 
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,' 
and ' Every one of us must give account of himself 
to God.' The Lord calls us now and offers a free 
and full salvation to all who will accept it. We had 
a large attendance again in the afternoon, for almost 
all brought their dinners with them and remained. 
I took the text, *We are the Lord's,' quoting dear 
Ellen's favourite stanza in Samuel Rutherford's Last 
Words : 



I am my beloved's, 

And my beloved is mine, 
He brings a poor vile sinner 

Jnto His house of wine : 



132 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

I stand upon His merits, 

I know no other stand, 
Not e'en where glory dwelleth 

In Emmanuel's land. 

"It is true we have something to give up in join- 
ing ourselves to the Lord. But love loses sight of 
sacrifices. Does the young bride dwell on what she 
gives up in leaving her old home ? Is it not her 
husband's love that occupies her, and is she not 
amply repaid ? How incomparably more so between 
the soul and Christ." 

Stanley proceeded the same week to the newly-es- 
tablished meeting at Up-river. '' Generally in this 
country the congregation gathers slowly, but here 
they were all ready before time, 'a hungry crowd,' 
as Allen Jay expressed it. The house had never 
been so full before, and never were there so many 
babies present, they said. There were something 
like forty under two years old. To speak in a close 
and over-heated atmosphere to a large concourse, so 
as to drown the voices of a score or two of babies, is 
hard upon the lungs, and I had to stop and beg for 
air. I dwelt on the words * Said I not unto thee that 
if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory 
of God.* The Lord says this not only to the con- 
verted but to the sinner, promising him a free par- 
don on his belief in Jesus Christ. A young man 
who had been careless and wild was prayed with, 
and found peace, publicly exclaiming in the meet- 
ing, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul.' The afternoon 
meeting was occupied with short testimonies and 
prayers. We had one lovely testimony from a dear 



North Carolina. 133 

girl of fifteen, who told us she had, for several years, 
been a child of God, and now desired to give herself 
more completely to the Lord than ever. 

*' In eleven days Allen Jay and I have had twenty- 
nine meetings, and several times I suppose I spoke 
fully three hours in the day. You may think it too 
much ; but the people are hungry, and the Lord 
calls, and certainly strength has been given beyond 
what I have asked or thought of, for this Carolina 
work. I have had strength of body and of voice, of 
mind and soul, for each day's work as it arose. I 
have been received with unvarying kindness, and the 
Lord has given me very helpful companions. I be- 
lieve too that He has forgiven the manifold imper- 
fections and negligences. What shall I render unto 
the Lord for all his benefits ? The fields here are 
white unto harvest, and the labourers are few, and 
the prayer has often arisen under the sense of the 
need of our own people, of their neighbours, and es- 
pecially of the coloured race, Lord send more la- 
bourers and raise up efficient helpers among the 
Carolinians themselves." 



CHAPTER X. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF PEACE PRINCIPLES. 

" In the course of my travels, especially in Carolina, 
I met with a number of striking illustrations of the 
faithful carrying out of peace principles under cir- 
cumstances of peculiar trial. I believe the record of 
them will have a value beyond that of their mere 
interest, and I have therefore collected them to- 
gether.* 

The test to which our peace principles were put 
during the great American struggle was one of un- 
paralleled severity, more so in some respects to those 
living in the North than in the South. Throughout 
the North there was on the part of the people a pro- 
found conviction that for them it was an inevitable 
and righteous conflict — one that they were waging 
for the maintenance of law and order, and in behalf 
of the sacred cause of liberty. The popular enthusi- 
asm was intense, and while the companions of the 
young Friends, in what seemed a noble and self- 
sacrificing devotion, were joining the ranks, nothing 
but the strength of conscientious conviction could 
enable them firmly to hold aloof and say, ' While 
respecting your motives and objects, the course you 

* " Friends' Quarterly Examiner." 



Illustrations of Peace Principles, 135 

are taking is not for us, because we believe all war 
to be forbidden by Christ.' Several of our members 
did join the Northern army, some of them avowing 
that they believed it to be their duty to do so. 

The difficulty in which Friends were placed was 
well described by Abraham Lincoln in that letter to 
Eliza P. Gurney which William E. Forster said was 
one of the most remarkable State papers he had ever 
seen. ' Your people, the Friends, have had, and are 
having, a very great trial. On principle and faith 
opposed to both war and oppression, they can only 
practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard 
dilem.ma some have chosen one horn, and some the 
other. For those appealing to me on conscientious 
grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I could, 
and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to 
the law.' This promise was faithfully kept, and I 
did not hear in the Northern States of any cruelty 
being inflicted on account of refusal to bear arms. 

While, however, not a few young Friends joined 
the Northern army, the great body of the Society 
adhered throughout to its peace principles. * Our 
path is clear,' wrote John G. Whittier, when address- 
ing the alumni of the New England Yearly Meeting 
School, 

The levelled gun, the battle brand, 
We may not take; 

But, calmly loyal, we can stand, 

And suffer with our suffering land, 
For conscience' sake. 

This was doubtless the general sentiment of 
Friends, and the heart of the Society equally re- 



136 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

sponded to the beautiful stanzas, in which the poet 
pointed out avenues that lay open, where, with no 
compromise of religious principle, they could serve 
their country. 

Thanks for our privilege to bless, 

By word and deed, 
The widow in her keen distress. 
The childless and the fatherless, 

The hearts that bleed ! 

For fields of duty opening wide, 

Where all our powers 
Are tasked, the eager steps to guide 
Of millions on a path untried : 

The slave is ours. 

Ours by traditions dear and old, 

Which make the race 
Our wards to cherish and uphold 
And cast their freedom in the mould 

Of Christian grace. 

Very nobly were these suggestions carried out in 
the efforts made by Friends for the freedmen after 
their emancipation, and in other ways. 

In the South there were not the same motives for 
laying aside peace principles as prevailed in the 
North. The Friends were loyal to the Union, and 
with their pronounced anti-slavery views could look 
with no sympathy upon the founding of a new pol- 
ity, of which the leaders avowed that slavery should 
be the corner-stone. Accordingly I did not hear of 
more than one member who was ever known to take 
an active part in the Southern army. Considering 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 137 

how obnoxious their principles must have been to 
the Confederate Government, it is to their credit that 
they often showed so much disposition to be lenient 
towards Friends. In Twelfth Month, 1861, a few 
months after the outbreak of hostilities, an attempt 
was indeed made in the Carolina Legislature to pass 
an Act by which every free male person above six- 
teen years of age, would have been required, under 
penalty of banishment within a month, publicly to 
renounce allegiance to the United States, and also 
to promise to support, maintain, and defend the In- 
dependent Government of the Confederates. But 
the passing of this Act was successfully opposed. 
In the course of his speech against it, the Hon. Wil- 
liam Graham pointed out that it would amount to a 
decree of wholesale expatriation of the Quakers, and 
' on the expulsion of such a people from amongst us, 
the whole civilised world,' he said, ' would cry shame.' 
The Conscription Act, by which every man between 
eighteen and thirty-five was ordered into the army, 
passed the Confederate Congress in Seventh Month, 
1862, and a deputation of Friends, including Nereus 
Mendenhall, Isham Cox, and John B. Crenshaw, 
waited on the Legislature, at Richmond, to plead for 
relief. They were more favourably received than 
might have been expected, and an Exemption Act 
was passed by which, for all who were members at 
the time, a payment of 500 dollars was accepted in 
lieu of military service. This Act was taken into 
consideration by the next Yearly Meeting, and its 
decision was against accepting its provisions. ' We 
cannot conscientiously pay the tax,' says the Minute, 



138 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

' yet we appreciate the good intentions of those mem- 
bers of Congress who had it in their hearts to do 
something for our relief ; and we recommend that 
those parents or young men who have availed them- 
selves of this law be treated in a tender manner.' 
Notwithstanding this decision, it would appear that 
the larger number of those who were drafted paid 
the 500 dollars, and when, through the depreciation 
of the Confederate money, this amount did not more 
than represent the value of a barrel of flour, the 
temptation to purchase liberty so cheaply was ex- 
tremely strong. There were, however, some whose 
consciences were unyielding, and it was upon them, 
and upon those who, having joined the Society after 
the passing of the Act, were not included in its pro- 
visions, that the sufferings fell. The motives of the 
latter in uniting themselves to Friends were always 
liable to be suspected, but they stood their ground 
in a way that proved their sincerity. A few instances 
from among this class shall be given first. 

Seth W. Loughlin, who had been a member only 
a few months, was arrested, taken from his wife and 
seven children, and sent to the camp near Peters- 
burg, Virginia. On his continued refusal to take 
up arms, they first tried to subdue him by keeping 
him from sleep. Then, for a w^eek, he was daily 
' bucked down,' a cruel punishment, in which, while 
the hands were tied below the knees, the body was 
kept in a painfully stooping and constrained posi- 
tion by a pole being thrust between the knees and 
elbows. He was afterward subjected to the severer 
torture of being hung up by his thumbs for an hour 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 139 

and a-half. Still firm in his refusal, he was at last 
ordered to be shot. The soldiers were drawn out in 
line, and were ready to fire, when he cried out, 
* Father, forgive them, they know not what they do ! ' 
On hearing this, the men lowered their guns, and 
the captain sent him back to prison. Seized with a 
severe illness, he was transferred to a hospital in 
Richmond, where his patience through his long suf- 
ferings touched the hearts and won the esteem of all 
who were with him. A few months later his wife 
received the following notification from an officer of 
the regiment : ' It is my painful duty to inform you 
that Seth W. Loughlin died in Windsor Hospital, 
Richmond, on the 8th December, 1864. He died, as 
he had lived, a true, humble, and devoted Christian, 
true to his faith and religion. We pitied him, and 
sympathised with him, but he is rewarded for his 
fidelity, and is at rest.' 

Jesse Bucknerwas a Colonel in the Carolina Mili- 
tia, and at the commencement of hostilities eagerly 
sided with the South. The refusal of some Friends 
to join in a parade led him to examine into their 
principles, and the result being the conviction that 
they were right, he resigned his commission. Not 
long after, he lost his way one dark night, and after 
wandering some time found himself by the Friends' 
Meeting House. He sat. down upon the steps, and 
it was clearly impressed upon his mind that he must 
unite himself with the people who worshipped there. 
His conscription followed in the early part of 1862. 
Drafted into the army, he was sent from camp to 
camp, and from gaol to gaol, suffering cruelty, hard- 



I40 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

ship, and abuse for three years, yet bearing all with 
a meekness that once led him when smitten literally 
to turn the other cheek. He was not released till 
the surrender of Johnston's army in 1865. 

Three brothers, who joined the Society of Friends 
after the passing of the Exemption Act, were ar- 
rested and sent to Orange Court House, Virginia. 
On their continued refusal to join the ranks one of 
them was knocked down with a blow that severely 
gashed his head, while another was pierced with a 
bayonet. The American officers, failing to move 
them, turned them over to a German, who boasted 
that he would make them yield. Abuse, threats, and 
various punishments were tried in vain, and they 
were at last ordered into close confinement without 
food or drink, and it was made a court-martial of- 
fence to relieve them. For three days and nights 
these cruel orders were carried out, and a little water, 
supplied them by a soldier in the night, was the only 
refreshment they obtained. After this they were 
' bucked down ' for over three hours till, under agony 
and starvation, the mind of the youngest gave way. 
For four or five weeks they were subjected to barba- 
rous treatment like this, when a Friend, who was 
searching for them, obtained first the suspension of 
the cruelty, and soon after their release. 

The instances thus far related were all among the 
newly convinced Friends. The birthright members, 
who were conscientiously restrained from buying 
their exemption, fared no better. When I was at 
Centre Meeting, North Carolina, in Twelfth Month, 
1875, I was deeply interested in reading the pencil 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 141 

journal kept in a small pocket-book by William B. 
Hockett, during the time he was with the army. 
From that journal this Friend has since supplied me 
with copious extracts, which he permits me to use. 
Some nights before his arrest he was shown in a 
vision that he would be carried off to the war, and 
have to suffer many things, The thought of leaving 
his wife, with a babe in arms, and a young family 
unprovided for, distressed him very much, and he 
pleaded that the way might be made for him to 
stay. 

*Then,' he says, *I was clearly shown that it was 
the will of the Lord that I should leave all, and that 
He w^ould be a husband to my wife and a father to 
my children, and that they should lack nothing in 
my absence ; and that if I was obedient to manifested 
duty, I should return with the reward of peace and 
find all well. This made me cry, ' Not ray will, but 
Thine, O Lord, be done.' My dear partner strength- 
ened me, saying, ' Be faithful : for I would rather 
hear of thee dying a martyr for Christ's sake than 
that you should sin against Him by staying with me.' 
So on the Eighth day of Sixth Month, 1863, we bade 
each other farewell.' 

William Hockett was now carried forward with a 
detachment of troops, under orders to join the great 
division of the Southern army that had invaded Penn- 
sylvania, under Lee. On the 23rd he was brought 
up before Colonel Kirkland, who commanded him to 
take a gun and go into the ranks, threatening him 
with instant death if he refused. William Hockett 
replied, * I cannot fight, for Christ has forbidden it. 



142 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

I know you have authority to order me to be shot, 
but there is a power above yours, and not a hair of 
my head can be touched without my Heavenly 
Father's permission.' If such were the will of God, 
he was ready to die a martyr for the Saviour's sake. 
Finding it useless to attempt to make him bear arms, 
they next tried to get him to work in the wagon 
yard, but this he refused just as steadily. * I cannot 
work at anything,' he said, ' to aid in carrying on 
war ; God has told me not to do it, and I fear Him 
more than anything that man can do to me.' 

He was now left to wait his trial till the morning. 
During the night, which to all human view seemed 
likely to be his last, his thoughts were much with 
his dear ones at home, and he was engaged in fer- 
vent prayer. 

*I was deeply exercised,' he says, Hhat I might 
be favoured to bear all that was to come upon me 
to the glory of the Lord and the spreading of His 
truth in the earth.' 'Lord,' he prayed, 'not my 
will but Thine be done, If it is Thy will that I 
shall lay down my life, be pleased to pardon my sins 
for Thy dear Son's sake. Take away the fear of 
man, and leave me not in the hour of trial, but sup- 
port me by Thy arm of power. My hope is in Thee, 
that Thou wilt control the raging of man as Thou 
didst in the days of old when Thou didst protect 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the fiery fur- 
nace, and the prophet Daniel in the lions' den. If it 
be Thy will, O Lord, Thou canst deliver me from 
those who seek my life, and enable me to declare 
Thy works to the sons and daughters of men. O 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 143 

God, here am I ; come life or come death, Thy will, 
not mine, be done.' 

In the morning, when the order was given to 
march, William Hockett refused to take his place in 
the ranks. This greatly exasperated the officer, who 
at once told him to prepare for death. Some soldiers 
were drawn up a few paces in front of him, and at 
the word of command they loaded and presented 
their guns. The meek and faithful Christian prayed, 
* Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do ! ' The guns dropped, and the men were heard to 
say that they could not shoot such a man. This en- 
raged the colonel all the more, and with an oath he 
declared he would ride over him, which he repeat- 
edly tried to do, but at each attempt the horse 
turned aside and left him unharmed. The officer 
now had a gun tied to him, and knocking him rough- 
ly on the head, said, ' You shall walk in the drill or 
we will kill you.' William Hockett knelt down and 
prayed, * Lord, lay not this sin to their charge ; and, 
oh, give me strength to bear all these afflictions for 
Thy great name's sake.' Two soldiers were next 
ordered to run him through with their bayonets ; 
but while they made a show of obeying, and one of 
them knocked him down by running his weapon into 
the carpet sack on his back, they evidently had no 
wish to take his life. The officer at last left, saying 
he had not yet done with him. During the succeed- 
ing days many attempts were made to induce him to 
carry a gun or do camp work ; but he steadfastly re- 
fused, disregarding alike their threats and their cru- 
elties. 



144 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

On the 3rd of Seventh Month occurred the great 
battle of Gettysburg, which saved Philadelphia and 
turned the fortunes of the war. Among the many- 
thousands who were left on that most sanguinary field 
was the officer who had treated this faithful Friend 
so cruelly. On the 5th, Wm. Hockett was taken 
prisoner by the Union troops, and was soon after set 
at liberty ; and, making his way to Philadelphia, was 
assisted by the Friends there to get to Indiana, where 
he remained till the war was over. 

On the 30th of Sixth Month, 1865, he met his wife 
beneath the oak under which they had parted two 
years before. The promise then given had been ful- 
filled ; he had been kept through all dangers and was 
returned in peace. His wife, also, had been wonder- 
fully cared for. Her sorrows and her toils had indeed 
been great — for all the work of the little farm, which 
furnished their sole sustenance, depended on her 
exertions ; yet she could testify that she and her 
children had been fed. Johnston's army had been 
many weeks in the neighbourhood, and his troops 
on two occasions had filled their yard from morning 
till night, but not even a chicken had been taken 
without leave ; and while the country had been ran- 
sacked for available horses, and scarcely one of any 
value had been left, the fine young horse which was 
so important to her was untouched. ' No one was 
permitted to bridle him,' says the simple record, 'be- 
cause the Lord knew that the corn that was planted 
would have to be ploughed, or it would not grow, 
and the promise was that my wife should not want 
during my absence.' 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 145 

The sufferings of Himilius and Jesse Hockett in 
some respects exceeded in severity those inflicted on 
their brother William, as just described. They were 
first drafted in the spring of 1862, and on refusal to 
drill were threatened with being shot, but, after a 
short imprisonment, were allowed to go home. 

On the 3rd of Fourth Month, 1863, they were again 
arrested, under the conscript law, and assigned to an 
Artillery Company at Kingston. On refusing to bear 
arms, they were brought before the commanding-offi- 
cer. General Ransom, who spoke to them with great 
severity, and told them he should give them three 
alternatives, — either to go into the army, to find sub- 
stitutes, or to do other army work instead of fighting, 
and until they made up their minds which to accept 
they should be kept without food or drink of any 
kind. They replied that they could accept neither : 
they could not fight, for it would be disobedience to 
Christ ; they could not pay another to do for them 
what they could not in conscience do themselves ; 
they could not perform army work of any kind, since 
their service would liberate others to engage in kill- 
ing their fellow-men. Accordingly they were re- 
manded to prison, and for four days and five nights 
the threat was carried out, and they were kept with- 
out so much as a crumb of bread or drop of water. 
Their sufferings, from thirst especially, were exceed- 
ingly severe. Many came to see them, and were as- 
tonish^id at their calmness and patience ; and as rea- 
sons were given from Holy Scripture why they could 
not fight, some of their visitors encouraged them, 
and said if they could only have such faith as the 
7 



146 Memories of Stanley Pmnphrey. 

Quakers they would not compromise their principles 
for any earthly consideration. 

On the third night they were awakened by the 
sound of rain, and could easily have procured from 
the window of their cell enough water to slake their 
thirst. Their first impulse was to do so, but before 
they had spoken to one another each separately felt 
restrained, and they concluded they had better not. 
To some this will no doubt seem a wilful or even 
fanatical setting aside of a providential relief, but as 
a matter of fact it resulted in their deliverance. 
General Ransom, who could hardly be persuaded 
that his prisoners could hold out as they did unless 
refreshment were being secretly conveyed to them, 
became satisfied on this circumstance coming to his 
knowledge that his orders had been obeyed, and he 
relented. 

On the fifth day their rations were restored to 
them. Their sufferings, however, were far from be- 
ing at an end. A month later they were brought 
before another officer, General Daniels, who told 
them as they would not fight he would place them 
in the very next battle in front of the foremost ranks 
to stop the bullets for those who would. To this 
they meekly answered that they preferred suffering 
to doing wrong. On being remanded to prison, the 
officers again tried to get them to do some simple 
and apparently unobjectionable work, but they again 
explained that they believed it to be wrong for them 
to undertake anything whatsoever as military ser- 
vice. 

Fresh punishments were now devised. Forked 



Illustrations of Peace Prmciples. 147 

poles were fastened to their necks, and from the 
prongs, as they projected behind, heavy weights 
were placed, and thus they were marched about for 
hours together till they were completely exhausted, 
exposed meanwhile to the scoffs and jeers of the sol- 
diers and rabble. * I suppose,' said one derisively, 
* you call that bearing the cross of Christ ? ' The 
court-martial now sentenced them to six months' im- 
prisonment with hard labour and in chains, during 
which their continued refusal to do military work 
exposed them to fresh tortures. On three separate 
occasions each of the brothers was tied up by his 
thumbs with his toes barely touching the ground, 
and was kept in this excruciating position for two 
hours. Another time the officer, in a rage, bade the 
soldiers run their bayonets into them four inches 
deep, and although this order was not literally 
carried out Jesse Hockett was severely wounded. 
Towards the close of the year a Friend paid the ex- 
emption money for them, and they were released. 
During their absence their wives had been obliged 
to work on the farms to raise food for the coming 
winter, a hardship which left one of them in greatly 
enfeebled health. 

I often met both William and Himilius Hockett, 
and have received directly from themselves almost 
all the particulars I have given. No bitter expres- 
sion once escaped them as they told their story, but 
their eyes filled with tears while they bore testimony 
to the Lord's goodness in sustaining them through 
all their trials and keeping them in faithfulness. 
All fear of man was taken away, they said, when 



148 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

they were brought before the officers ; and they 
often had cause to remember the promise, ' It shall 
be given you in that same hour what ye ought to 
speak.' The more trying their circumstances, the 
more richly was grace supplied, and the words were 
in their minds continually, '■ I will never leave thee 
nor forsake thee.' 

At the same time that William Hockett was re- 
leased from Fort Delaware, four other Friends, 
Thomas and Jacob Hinshaw, and Cyrus and Nathan 
Barker were set at liberty. They were kept with 
the army nine months, but appear to have been 
treated with as little severity as could be expected. 
Their refusal to wait on the sick, or cook, no doubt 
seemed to the officers stubborn and unreasonable, 
though the Friends were careful to explain that their 
objection was not to the work itself, but to doing it 
as military service. For declining to help load fod- 
der they were once fastened together, tied behind a 
cart, and dragged three or four miles through mud 
and water, the orders being that if they still refused 
they should be thrown into the river ; the commander 
saying what, no doubt, was abundantly true, that 
such men were ' of no manner of use in the army.' 
The last part of the punishment does not appear to 
have been executed, and the Friends escaped as has 
been said. 

It is animating to find that the martyr spirit of our 
early days lives with us still, and only needs the oc- 
casion to draw it out. 

'Among all those who steadily refused to bear 
arms, and of whom many were imprisoned, not one 



Illustrations of Peace Principles » 149 

suffered a violent death ; ' which, as the North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting appropriately says, ' must 
surely be traced to the overruling providence of 
Him by whom the very hairs of our head are num- 
bered.' 

Referring to the position of affairs in the early 
part of 1865, when North Carolina had become one 
of the principal seats of hostilities, the Yearly Meet- 
ing says : — ' Meanwhile the Friends living in the 
counties of Alamance, Chatham, Randolph, and 
Guilford, and comprising by far the largest portion 
of those in the State, were placed in most imminent 
peril. After the fall of Richmond and the surrender 
of General Lee, the army of General Johnson was 
still near Greensborough, while the army of General 
Sherman moved on from Goldsborough to the other 
side of Raleigh, and, with a day or two's march be- 
tween, demanded the surrender of the Confederate 
forces. While awaiting the answer. President Lincoln 
was assassinated. Roused by this to a still more de- 
termined spirit, the army of Sherman seemed pre- 
pared for the most utter devastation. Between the 
two opposing forces, and indeed partially surrounded 
by them, lay our peaceful homes, with an apparently 
almost certain destruction hanging over them. We 
had neither weapon nor shield, save our prayers and 
our trust in the arm of the Lord. But these were 
all we needed. The threatening cloud of battle 
rolled away, and the surrender of the last of the 
Southern armies was effected, without bloodshed, in 
our very midst. Through four years of danger and 
distress on every hand, the Lord had been increasing 



ISO Memories of Stanley Piimphrey. 

the faith of His people, and now they were left to 
rejoice in safety over their last crowning and signal 
deliverance.' 

The number of lives sacrificed during the four 
years of the war is estimated at 800,000, and is some- 
times put much higher.* It is inexpressibly sadden- 
ing to wander through the large cemeteries, like the 
one I visited at Knoxville, with 3000 or 4000 uniform 
graves, all bearing the date of the same sad years. 
These military cemeteries, of which there are alto- 
gether a large number, are always nicely kept. A 
neat stone at the head of each grave gives the name, 
age, and State of the poor fellow who lies beneath. 
Very many, however, are nameless, and how suggest- 
ive of agonising suspense are these nameless graves, 
for no tidings of the occupants could ever have 
reached their friends. 

The sacrifice of property was fully in proportion to 
the sacrifice of life. The cost to the Treasury of the 
Northern Government was ;^i, 000, 000, 000, and the 
Southerners have reckoned theirs at nearly as much.f 
And these sums, inconceivably enormous as they are, 
take no account of the wide tracts of country that 
were laid waste, the harvests that were destroyed, the 

* Edward Taylor, in his " Brief History of the American People," 
estimates that 700,000 men were either killed in battle or maimed 
and disabled for life, or died from disease, on the Northern side 
alone, 

f On June loth, 1880, the Secretary of the Treasury presented to 
the Senate a statement of the expenses growing out of the war from 
July ist, 1861, to June 30th, 1879, and gave the amount as 6,796,- 
792,508 dols., or ;^i, 359, 358, 500. The cost to the South willnever 
be accurately ascertained. 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 151 

barns and homesteads, the villages and towns, that 
were given to the flames. General Sherman, when 
during his march through Georgia he was remon- 
strated with for turning out so many women and 
children, homeless and helpless, by what seemed the 
wanton destruction of their homes, replied, * War is 
cruel, and you cannot refine it' 

The beautiful valley of East Tennessee for about 
150 miles west of Chattanooga was for many months 
the scene of almost continual fighting. The hostile 
armies drove each other to and fro, and burnt and 
plundered the country till there was not a rail of 
fence left, and hardly a house that had not been 
ransacked. The memories of the war so fill the 
thoughts of the people that it has become the era 
from which they habitually reckon. An event is 
seldom spoken of as happening so many years ago ; 
it was so many years before, or so many since the 
war. 

Many were the tales of sorrow and suffering that 
we heard from the Friends of the district. 

'The soldiers would be continually coming to us,' 
said Abner Ellis, of New Hope, ' to make us give up 
our stores of food. While we had any we were will- 
ing to share it with them , for we remembered it is 
written : *' If thine enemy hunger feed him." But 
the men were very rude, and it was hard when they 
tried to take everything from us. We had to hide 
away our stores, or we should have had nothing for 
the winter. In that matter the Lord helped us re- 
markably. One day John Beales was poking about 
at the bottom of the orchard when he came upon a 



152 Memories of Stanley PumpJirey. 

cave that none of us had ever known about before. 
The vines were hanging over the mouth of it, so that 
it was quite hidden. There was a little narrow pas- 
sage just wide enough to creep along, and at the end 
a steep place to scramble down , and then it opened 
out into a fine large chamber, and what was wonder- 
ful, there was a little spring in it of pure fresh water,' 
and the air was remarkably dry for such a place. We 
put our provisions there, and often we were glad to 
hide away ourselves. Some of our Friends were con- 
scripted and had not paid the fine, and if they had 
caught them they might have killed them. I have 
known twelve or fourteen of us to be hidden down 
there at once. Of course we could not light a fire, 
for the smoke would have betrayed us, but we took 
a number of blankets down, and made a rough bed- 
stead in one of the recesses of the cave, and when 
we were cold went to bed. Sometimes we had to 
stop there for days, till the women came and told us 
that the soldiers were gone. We ought to call it 
*' Providence Cave," it was such a good refuge for 
us, and I do think it was the Lord who guided John 
Beales to it just when it was needed. I have not 
been down there since the war, but I would take 
thee if thou would like to go.' 

So the pine-wood torches were prepared and 
lighted, and we had all the details rehearsed again 
upon the spot. ' There we fixed the bedstead, here 
we put the bucket to catch the water from the little 
spring.' The health of this good Friend, like that 
of many others, had never recovered from the hard- 
ships of those years of misery. 



Illustratio7is of Peace Principles. 153 

The search for conscripts and for runaway soldiers 
was carried out with great vigilance, and the usual 
punishment on their being found was death. A 
party of thirty were trying to get away from Caro- 
lina ; the noise they made among the reeds * on the 
banks of the Chowan river roused the watch, and 
while they were swimming across they were fired at, 
and only four escaped. * I had been asked to join 
that party,' said the man who told me, ' but I thought 
it safer to go with a smaller company.' 

One of the newly-convinced members in Ten- 
nessee, who was my guide to a remote meeting, 
showed me the den where he hid for eight months. 
He dug a large hole in the woods, carefully carrying 
the earth away to a pond near by, and then, covering 
it up with planks and strewing plenty of earth and 
dead leaves over it, he left an opening just large 
enough to creep in. There he would be all day ; at 
night he came out for water and exercise, and for the 
food left for him in an agreed place. His father had 
already been taken prisoner, and lay half-starved till 
he died, in one of those frightful and most fatal 
prisons which were the reproach of the Confederate 
Government and the terror of the Northern troops. 
His mother was left with thirteen children, the oldest 
nineteen, the youngest only a year and a half. The 
girls had to plough and do all the field work, and 
the scanty crop of Indian corn they succeeded in 
raising furnished almost their whole supply of food. 

* They were cutting down bundles of reeds to swim with, fearing 
the distance was too far for them. 
7* 



1 54 Memories of Stanley Ptcmphrey. 

But if the sufferings of the people in the neigh- 
bourhood of the battle-fields were thus. great, the 
moral injury to those who inflicted the suffering was 
still greater. A chaplain in the 'Army of Ohio' 
writes, in a letter which appeared in the New York 
Independent^ November 6th, 1862, ' Cursing and ob- 
scenity, together with stealing, are the order of the 
day, and the general feeling is that piety is out of 
the question in the army.' Another chaplain in a 
letter to the New York Observer^ writes, August 21st, 
1863 :— 

'I am painfully convinced that, notwithstanding 
all that has been done and is doing, the tendency of 
our men is rapidly, fearfully downward. With some 
exceptions in regiments where a chaplain of right 
character has been permitted to labour, vice, in its 
most flagrant and odious forms, riots unrestrained. 
Such blatant and incessant profanity as I heard in 
travelling from Louisville, Kentucky, to Winches- 
ter, Tennessee — some 750 miles — I had never before 
supposed possible ; intemperance prevails and vice 
shows itself shamelessly. The causes of this deterior- 
ation are patent. War is essentially and almost 
necessarily a demoraliser, from the absence of all re- 
straint exercised by the presence of mothers, wives, 
and prattling children ; from the destitution of 
strong religious agencies in the army, such as the 
Church throws about men at home, and from the 
new and violent temptations to which a soldier is ex- 
posed — temptations that never reach him till he is 
thrown into an enemy's country, and against which 
few are able resolutely to contend.' 



Illustrations of Peace Principles. 155 

Of course the effect of this state of things lasts 
after the war is over, and probably no result of the 
American conflict was so disastrous as the national 
demoralisation consequent upon it. Good men con- 
stantly deplored this in our hearing, and attributed 
to the war the lower tone of sentiment and morality 
which they regarded as prevailing. The very gener- 
al practice of carrying weapons, with the consequent 
frequency of acts of violence, and the lower regard 
for the sanctity of human life, are directly traceable 
to the influence of the war. 

The more we look into the actual details of war, 
the more we shall be convinced that it is the sum of 
all villainies. Be it ours to do what we can to ex- 
pose the hoUowness of all its glory, to get men to see 
it in its true colours, that they may awake to the 
truth that there is absolutely nothing in common be- 
tween war and Christ. 



CHAPTER XL 

TENNESSEE. 

*' We must now cross the mountains into Tennessee, 
and if we do as the natives do, and go in wagons 
over the mountain roads, the journey will occupy 
eleven days. It is thus that Dr. Garner and his com- 
panions come to Yearly Meeting, and it is thus that 
Carolina Friends went to attend the Yearly Meeting 
at Friends ville, for the long and costly railway jour- 
ney is beyond their means. At the close of the war, 
the Society of Friends was almost extinguished in 
Tennessee, but it has been greatly built up through 
the labours of several earnest workers. 

The valley of East Tennessee possesses natural ad- 
vantages which should render it one of the most at- 
tractive portions of the United States. It comprises 
a district about two hundred miles in length, and one 
hundred miles in width, lying between the Alleghany 
and Cumberland Mountains, and watered by the fine 
streams that form the Tennessee river. The soil is 
naturally fertile, and the climate hardly to be sur- 
passed. The winters are short, and the cold spells 
not often either severe or of long duration. The 
heat of summer is moderated by the breezes from 
the mountains. Many invalids whose health has 
broken down under the extremes of other climates 
have here had health and strength restored. The 



Tennessee. 157 

lovers of nature may find in the beauty and the vari- 
ety of the scenery a perpetual feast. From the sum- 
mits of the mountains, the highest east of the Missis- 
sippi, views of rare extent and grandeur are obtained. 
In this southern clime, trees of almost every variety 
clothe the hills from base to crest ; and when the 
oaks and chestnuts, poplars, beech and birch have 
cast their leaves, the forests of pine and cedar are 
still green. The valleys disclose softer beauties, and 
bowers of kalmias and azaleas shade the streams. 
The flora is the richest in the States. The hills are 
stored with mineral treasure, and iron and copper, 
marble and slate abound. 

With all these advantages, East Tennessee is unde- 
veloped. Slavery blighted the natural and moral 
fields alike. The soil has been exhausted by a waste- 
ful plan of farming, till land that ought to produce 
a hundred bushels to the acre yields but twenty. 
Many of the people are too well content to live as 
their fathers, have little ambition to improve, and 
seem indifferent to anything beyond the bare neces- 
saries of life. The state of education, though higher 
in Tennessee than some parts of the South, is very 
low ; 364,697 persons over ten years of age, or forty- 
one per cent, of the population, were reported at the 
last census as unable to read or write. In many dis- 
tricts illicit distilleries are more plentiful than either 
schoolhouses or chapels, and little or no provision is 
made for public worship. Thus, whether for the 
agricultural, moral, educational, or religious reformer, 
there is ample scope for work. 

In this district, the Society of Friends has had a 



I $8 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

footing for about eighty 3^ears. A meeting was first 
established quite in the east of the State, at New- 
Hope, then at Lost ^Creek, sixty miles further west, 
and at Friendsville, fifty miles west again. Smaller 
meetings were set up near these centres, which formed 
together a Quarterly Meeting of considerable size. 
The same causes that diminished the Carolina meet- 
ings operated here. To escape the influence of slav- 
er}", numbers of the more energetic young men emi- 
grated to the west, so that even before i860 the 
meetings were much reduced. Then came the war, 
to the ravages of which East Tennessee was terribly 
exposed. The contending armies swept backwards 
and forwards, desolating the country till hardly a 
rail of fence was left. Of the little community of 
Friends, all who could get away did so ; and the rest, 
to escape conscription, were obliged literally to hide 
away in the woods and mountains, and in dens and 
caves of the earth. Lost Creek and Hickory Valley 
meetings were laid down, and at New Hope and 
Friendsville the attendance might often be counted 
by units. With the restoration of peace the meet- 
ings revived, and, as in Carolina, a considerable dis- 
position manifested itself among the people to unite 
with Friends. Jeremiah A. Grinnell, Rachel Bin- 
ford, and other Friends from the west, felt drawn to 
settle among them, and their labours were blessed. 
A new meeting was set up at Maryville, and Lost 
Creek and Hickory Valley were commenced anew. 
The last-named settlement became a Monthly Meet- 
ing, and, together with Friendsville, constituted a 
new Quarter ; Maryville Monthly Meeting, though 



Tennessee. 159 

much nearer Friendsville, being joined to Lost 
Creek. Good new Meeting Houses have been built 
in several places, and about eight hundred individ- 
uals have been received into membership. 

After the war the condition of the f reedmen claimed 
the earnest sympathy of Friends. Many schools 
were established in Tennessee, and Yardley Warner, 
with the aid of funds contributed in England and 
elsewhere, built a normal school at Maryville for the 
coloured people. The charge of this institution has 
been accepted by New England Yearly Meeting. 
The opportunity furnished for practical as well as 
theoretical instruction in methods of teaching is a 
great advantage. 

Dr. J. D. Garner found among the valleys of the 
Smoky Mountains a considerable population of very 
poor people, whose religious and educational oppor- 
tunities were very small indeed. For several years 
he has devoted himself to the work of their elevation. 
School-houses have been built, the people supplying 
the timber and putting them up under his direction 
and with his manual help ; and thousands have been 
taught to read. 

A normal school is carried on in the Meeting 
House at Maryville. For this, young people of pro- 
mise are selected, and after receiving training are 
sent back to teach and elevate the inhabitants of 
their native valleys. 

The schools with which Dr. Garner has been con- 
nected are partly supported by the public funds, and 
partly by Indiana Yearly Meeting, and the voluntary 
contributions of interested friends. 



i6o Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Occasionally Dr. Garner takes a tour among the 
mountains. The journey is toilsome, for the roads 
can only be travelled on foot or horseback, and are 
often extremely rough and steep. The accommoda- 
tion, even in the best houses, possesses few of the 
comforts of civilized life. Often a room in a log 
cabin, without windows, is shared with the whole 
family, and the meal consists of nothing but corn- 
bread and milk. There is rarely any chance either 
to hear from or communicate with home during the 
whole journey. Meetings are held at the various 
places on the route, and earnest endeavours are used 
to raise the people socially, morally, and religiously. 
At Hopewell Springs, where some of the most effec- 
tive work has been done, a good frame-house is built, 
and meetings are now kept up every First-day. At 
three or four other points they are held once a 
month, some one qualified to instruct the people ar- 
ranging to be present every time. As the result of 
these labours, a large number have given evidence 
of change of heart, and some very striking instances 
have occurred among the very aged and the most de- 
praved. A considerable number have been received 
into membership with Friends. Thus a large 
amount of philanthropic and religious work is in 
successful operation among Friends in Tennessee. 
The workers are, many of them, capable of com- 
manding fair incomes in their native States as 
teachers and otherwise. They have made sacrifices, 
of which the pecuniary ones are perhaps the least, 
for the sake of helping the poor and ignorant, and 
building up churches where there were none before. 



Tennessee. i6r 

The situation of Maryville, the small town where 
Dr. Garner lives, is beautiful, lying between the Al- 
leghany and the Cumberland mountains. The Alle- 
ghanies here cover an immense tract of country, over 
loo miles wide, and the highest summits are nearly 
7000 feet. We started to visit some of the hill sta- 
tions, having two horses between three of us. My 
nag was a quiet and excellent one, named Selim,* 
and I became quite attached to him. Starting from 
Maryville, it was evening before we reached our des- 
tination among the mountains. The house was a 
log cabin with no windows, and two bedsteads con- 
stituted the principal furniture. Charles Taylor and 
I occupied one of them, and Dr. Garner and our 
host the other. The wife and daughters made them- 
selves a bed in the loft, which was reached by a lad- 
der. Our host stood six feet two inches, with a^ 
muscular frame, and had evidently been a powerful 
man. He served through the whole of the war, on 
the Northern side, and hated the rebels with a per- 
fect hatred. He went into wickedness as deep as a 
man could, and was fearfully profane ; but Dr. Gar- 
ner had laboured with him patiently, persuaded him 
to give up whiskey drinking, and at last obtained his 
promise to come to some meetings. He was in a 
pitiable state of mind, and begged Dr. Garner to do 
his best to get his children to be Christians, but as 
for himself it was too late. He was pointed to the 
* blood of sprinkling,' and the efficacy of Christ to 

* Selim was Dr. Garner's own horse, which he used to ride in his 
journeys in the mountains. He would take care of his master at 
night like a dog, and wake him if any danger were near. 



i62 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

atone for the sins of the whole world, and that He is 
able to save to the uttermost. Evidently there was 
something hindering him ; what was it ? ' Those 
rebels,' he said, 'I can never forgive them — never.' 
Martha Jay laboured with him earnestly, and at last 
the grace of the Lord triumphed. He completely 
broke down, forgave all, and was himself forgiven. 
Since then he has led a consistent life. His health 
is now broken, but he looks forward trustfully, as- 
sured that he will be cared for. ' There is one Friend 
who will never desert me,' he said. 'Who is that ? ' 
I asked ; and he replied, ' The Lord.' " 

Stanley Pumphrey paid very many visits among 
these mountain valleys, enduring many privations, 
and yet intensely interested in the work that was 
going on. 

One of the results of these lengthened visits to 
Carolina and Tennessee was the appeal made to 
Friends in England to assist in the erection of suit- 
able Meeting Houses. In this appeal he says : — ** In 
the course of my journey in America I was often 
grieved at the condition of the Meeting Houses of 
Friends, especially in the southern and frontier 
States. Many are deplorably out of repair ; and in 
not a few cases where there is quite a community of 
our people they have no house of their own. On 
making careful enquiry as to the Meeting Houses in 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, I ascertained that 
there were twelve places where new Houses are much 
needed ; and that in four others, where Houses have 
been commenced, the necessary funds to complete 
them have not been raised. In the Southern Quar- 



Tennessee. 163 

terly Meeting, where there are ten meetings, Friends 
own but two Houses that are in creditable condition; 
and in another Monthly Meeting the tiiree Houses 
are all quite discreditable.* 

" Let it not be thought that American Friends are 
unmindful of their duty. They have done a great 
deal ; but they have claims upon them in this direc- 
tion to which we in England have no parallel. Since 
1850, thirty-one Quarterly Meetings, and about two 
hundred particular meetings, have been established 
west of the AUeghanies ; and as the Quarterly Meet- 
ing Houses would seldom be adequate if they would 
not seat four hundred persons, and the other Meet- 
ing Houses require an average capacity for one hun- 
dred and fifty, it will be see that new Meeting 
Houses are a serious tax to our brethren across the 
water, and one that falls the most heavily on new 
settlers, who seldom have much money at command. 
The sacrifices made are often great. I know an 
aged Friend in North Carolina, whose estate was es- 
timated at only ^120, who gave ;2^2o, or a sixth of 
his whole property, towards the new Meeting House 
that was required. North Carolina Yearly Meeting 
has built sixteen new Meeting Houses since the war, 
an average of one a year. In one instance. Friends 
having no money sowed thirty acres of wheat, which 
was consecrated to the Lord, and they prayed for 
His blessing on the crop so that enough might be 
realized to provide them a House to worship in. In 

* In Kansas the need is as great or greater. Friends there, at 
the time of Stanley Pumphrey's visit, were holding their meetings 
in some cases in ♦' dug-outs " or earth caves. 



1 64 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

another place the Meeting House for the coloured 
Friends was shattered by a tornado, and the poor 
people were iinable to replace it without help. Wood 
is cheap. Friends readily give much manual labour; 
and great simplicity characterizes all the arrange- 
ments of the community."* 

* In response to this appeal ;,^ioi9 was collected among Friends 
in England and Ireland to be administered through the Baltimore 
Association, three-fourths of the cost of the Meeting House in each 
case to be provided by American Friends. The fund has already 
proved very useful in four or five different States, and remains under 
the care of Isaac Robson, J. B. Braithwaithe, Thomas Harvey, and 
James Hack Tuke, on behalf of London Yearly Meeting. 



CHAPTER XII. 



HAMPTON. 



Another visit that greatly impressed Stanley Pum- 
phrey waste Hampton in Virginia, the home of George 
and Eunice Dixon, who occupied awing of the large 
wooden building put up by General Butler as a school 
for the " contrabands " when they flocked to Hamp- 
ton in such numbers during the war. George Dixon 
is a botanist and naturalist as well as a philanthropist, 
and there is much to remind you of this in the re- 
fined taste which give his rooms an air of brightness 
and comfort. 

"After breakfast we went w4th Eunice Dixon to 
see the school for coloured children under her care. 
It is held in the same building in which they live. 
'Five years ago,' said Mrs. General Marshall, 'be- 
fore Mrs. Dixon came, you could have said these 
children were a lot of young savages.' Now the 
order may be said to be perfect. The children look 
bright and happy, faces clean, hair tidy, and clothes 
neat. Those who were present varied in age from 
5 to 25. They have coloured teachers. Corporal 
punishment has never been resorted to. They are 
ruled with kindness, yet with firmness. They have 
simple worship at the beginning of the school, and 
during this they learn texts in concert. They re- 



1 66 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

psated for us with great accuracy, giving the refer- 
ences. It was touching to hear them sing their old 
plantation- melodies, ' Swing low, sweet chariot,' and 
others.. Many of these ' hymns ' are a queer jum- 
ble, the most incongruous thoughts being run to- 
gether — 

You'll see de moon a bleedin', 

I do love de Lord ; 
You'll see de stars a fallin', 

I do love de Lord ; 
My bredren don't get weary, 

I'm hunting for a home. 

Sometimes, however, beautiful thoughts and pre- 
cious experiences are embodied — 

One day when I was walking along — 

Oh, yes, Lord, 
De element opened, and de love came down — 

Oh, yes, Lord, 
I never shall forget that day — 

Oh, yes, Lord, 
When Jesus washed my sins away — 

Oh, yes, Lord. 

They almost broke me down as they sang very 
plaintively, 

Nobody knows de trouble I've seen, 
Nobody knows but Jesus. 

Allen Jay and I both spoke to them. The eldest 
pupils belong to the Teachers' Training College. 
When they come very ignorant, as they often do, 



Hampton, 167 

they are sent here to get elementary instruction. At 
the same time they see here how schools, such as 
they are to have charge of, ought to be conducted. 

We afterwards went to the College. The teachers 
are mostly ladies who are well up to their work, and 
there is an air of cheerfulness and enjoyment in their 
lessons that pleased me much. Generals Armstrong 
and Marshall, who have oversight of the institution, 
are two fine men. Virginia Hall, where the young 
women lodge, is a noble building. The industrial 
part of the training, both of the young men and 
women, is considered an important part, and assists 
in their maintenance ; the design of the founders 
being, ' not only to send out school-teachers, but 
farm-teachers, home-teachers, and teachers of prac- 
tical Christianity.' Almost all of those trained here 
become teachers, and there is a great demand for 
them. In one or two places in the South I heard 
what admirable teachers they make. In the after- 
noon the students, about 200 in number, were as- 
sembled, that we might address them. I lifted my 
heart to God, that I might be helped to speak aright, 
and realized the blessing of His presence. 

George Dixon devotes his energies mainly to ren- 
dering material assistance to the coloured people. 
Many are engaged in oyster fishing, and George 
Dixon has been the means of helping them to find 
a market and to get a fair price for what they catch. 
Their condition has much improved, as it does every- 
where where they have a chance. ' Not one of them 
is satisfied till he owns a house, a plot of land, and a 
cow.' Not even Warnersville made me so hopeful 



1 68 Memories of Stanley Piunphrey. 

with regard to the future of the coloured people if 
they could only get fair play. 

I felt sad at parting with dear Allen Jay, to whom 
my heart had become closely bound in brotherly 
love. ' We shall neither of us ever forget these 
weeks of associated service,' he said, and .then he 
knelt down and prayed for me once more. I had a 
comfortable voyage up the Chesapeake Bay back to 
Baltimore." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

'* Philadelphia is the most compact Yearly Meet- 
ing in the world. About 2,000 of the members re- 
side within the city limits, and the remainder, who 
may be about 3,000, are scattered in about sixty 
meetings, very few of which are more than forty 
miles from Philadelphia. Thus it is very easy for 
them to attend their Yearly Meeting, and nearly 
two-fifths of the whole membership is probably 
sometimes to be found on the Arch Street prem- 
ises. 

" The appearance of the Yearly Meeting is strik- 
ing. About half the Friends on the women's side 
are attired in those sober-tinted gowns, and shawls, 
and bonnets, with which we were familiar in years 
gone by ; and the appearance of the men's meeting 
corresponds. 

^'My principal home while in America was in 
Philadelphia. It was to us a haven of rest, and the 
kindness shown by Mary R. Haines and her son and 
daughter, was only an illustration of that which was 
manifested by very many." 

Stanley Pumphrey thus describes his first Sabbath 
in Philadelphia. *'I looked forward to it," he says, 



170 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

** with some trepidation. I went with Mary Haines 
to Twelfth Street Meeting. It is a meeting of 600 
members, and, with very little exception, the)^ are in 
agreement with English Friends. Probably there 
were 350 present yesterday, many more women than 
men. . I offered prayer, and afterwards spoke from 
* Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save 
His people from their sins,' and ' They shall call His 
name Emmanuel.' I was thankful to be able to bear 
a clear testimony to Jesus as the Son of God and the 
Saviour of men. 

''A woman Friend afterwards offered a sweet 
thanksgiving, and a touching prayer for me. Many 
pressed round me at the close of the meeting to bid 
me welcome. The evening meeting was much 
smaller. Many of the Friends live at a considerable 
distance, and do not find it easy to come a second 
time. The .meeting closed with a sweet feeling 
of the presence of the Lord. I am so thankful, 
and feel my heart lightened. * They looked unto 
Him and were lightened, and their faces were not 
ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard 
him.' 

" I next went to the North Meeting. I looked up 
and asked the Lord to guide me sentence by sen- 
tence, and word by word, and the fear of man was 
taken away as I spoke to them from the 2nd of 
Hebrews, of Him who ' by the grace of God tasted 
death for every man.' At the close of the meeting 
several Friends spoke to me quite kindly, and my 
heart was filled with praise. 

*' In the evening we liad the best social gathering 



Philadelphia. lyi 

I have attended, nearly sixty present. Friends here 
are quite accustomed to social worship when minis- 
ters are present, and thus many opportunities are 
afforded to preach the Word. I have been very 
warmly welcomed on these occasions, and am thank- 
ful that the door is so much more open than I ex- 
pected, Philadelphia is much upon my heart, and 
my prayer is earnest that I may be guided here, 
and may have wisdom and grace, and be made a bless- 
ing." 

Stanley afterwards made his way to Orange Street 
Meeting House. He writes : — " I sat down near the 
end of the gallery. I felt lonely, but my gracious 
Master drew near to me and encompassed me with 
His love, and I poured out my soul before Him with 
many tears. I spoke briefly and guardedly from 
the prayer of Habakkuk, ' O Lord, revive thy w^ork 
in the midst ♦of the years, in wrath remember mer- 
cy.'" 

Amid cause for much thoughtfulness, Stanley 
found in social intercourse much that w^as heart- 
cheering. In visiting Burlington he passed the house 
of Stephen Grellet, and remarks, " I think his me- 
moir is the best illustration of Quakerism acted out 
that we have. I also feel a sort of spiritual rela- 
tionship with the venerable saint ; he was so blessed 
to Benjamin Seebohm, and Benjamin Seebohm was 
so blessed to me. Here also is the residence of Eliza 
P. Gurney, the widow of Joseph John Gurney. She 
lives in a pleasant country house two miles from 
town. Several other Friends live near her, and they 
are on such delightful terms, they have thrown down 



1/2 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

their fences so that their grounds form a park. There 
are many fine trees ; and in summer it is a lovely 
place. E. P. Gurney is a comely lady, and wears 
the Elizabeth Fry costume with much grace. Her 
face is a very pleasant one. She at once puts you at 
home ; and in conversation she has still, in her sev- 
enty-fifth year, the vivacity of a girl. She is very out- 
spoken ; and what she says is so interesting. It is 
delightful to hear her talk of Joseph John Gurney, 
and of her days at Earlham. ' Those few years were 
my life,' she said, and it seemed pleasant to her to 
recur to them. She spoke of Hannah C. Backhouse 
like a daughter. She talked of her sister Fry and 
brother Buxton ; of Bunsen, and the crowned heads 
whom she had visited, of Stephen Grellet, and Wil- 
liam Forster, and a host of Quaker worthies." 

On the i8th of Third Month, 1876, Stanley visited 
Germantown, one of the beautiful suburbs of Phila- 
delphia. Here he was the guest of Beulah Hacker. 
Her husband visited a hardened convict who was 
condemned to die. Various ministers had laboured 
with the man and produced no impression. Friend 
Hacker came and sat down by the man, and taking 
his hand said, ''John, was it not wonderful love in 
God Almighty to give His own dear Son to die for 
poor sinners like thee and me ? " Those words "thee 
and me " broke the man down, and he became a sin- 
cere penitent. 

" Germantown is one of the largest meetings in 
the Yearly Meeting, and includes many rising fami- 
lies ; and they are better off for ministers than any 
other meeting in Philadelphia. I expected to have 



Philadelphia. 173 

delivered them a comforting address, but when I rose 
from my knees after offering prayer, I could see no 
light on anything but the words, ' I have somewhat 
against thee.' Some of them said they had never 
heard such plain dealing, and that I had used great 
boldness of speech, but they received it well, and I 
hope the Lord will bless the message. In the af- 
ternoon I went to the Bible Class which ' Frank * 
used to go to, whose lovely memoir has been pub- 
lished." 

Stanley Pumphrey devoted more time and thought 
to Philadelphia than to any other Yearly Meeting 
on the American continent, and there was no Yearly 
Meeting in which he formed more cordial friend- 
ships. He visited every Quarterly Meeting within 
its compass, several of them repeatedly. While re- 
joicing in their philanthropic efforts for the Freed- 
men, for the Indians, and inthe cause of education, 
he regretted that more was not being practically ac- 
complished by such a large and influential body of 
Friends for the spread of the Gospel of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. In carefully reviewing his 
work there, he says : — *' As regards Philadelphia, my 
steps were directed there again and again. A large 
part of my luggage was never removed from the 
house of my dear friend John B. Garrett, who with 
his wife and mother-in-law invariably welcomed me 
with the truest kindness. The central position of 
Philadelphia made it a convenient returning point, 
but my principal reason for going there so much was 
the clear pointing of duty, the strong conviction 
that there was a place there for me to occupy. I at- 



174 Mejiiories of Stanley Pti^nphrey. 

tended Twelfth Street Meeting far oftener than any- 
other, and I always received there the warmest of 
welcomes, and in many other places in and around 
Philadelphia the Friends were generally willing to 
listen to me, and I have faith to believe the seed was 
not sown in vain." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

NEW YORK. 

** I HAVE been occupied incessantly with Yearly- 
Meetings for more than a fortnight," writes Stanley 
Pumphrey on the Sixteenth of Sixth Month, 1876. 
'' New York Yearly Meeting met this year at Roch- 
ester, a large and well-built city of 80,000 inhabi- 
tants. The two main streets are fine broad streets, 
and the suburbs are good. In some American cities 
it has become the fashion not to fence the suburban 
villas at all, but to let the lawns lie open to the main 
road. This is an improvement to the appearance, 
slightly at the expense of privacy. Friends of 
Rochester thought they would like the Yearly Meet- 
ing held in the west of the State sometimes, so 
they built a handsome Meeting House, at a cost of 
25,000 dollars. The large room holds about 500 peo- 
ple. It is quite in chapel style, has neat windows 
with patterned glass, and a platform and reading- 
desk. 

'' New York Yearly Meeting has greatly changed 
in its character during the last few years. They 
were losing members fast ; now their meetings are 
being built up again. Last year they added about 
170 to their membership, this year about as many. 
They have a membership of 3300, in nine Quarterly 



176 Memories of Stanley Piunphrey. 

Meetings.* First-Day Schools have been established 
in almost all their meetings, and the number of 
scholars is about 3000, one-third of whom are con- 
nected with Friends. It is largely through these 
schools, and through the holding of general meetings, 
that accessions come to the church. 

" New York Yearly Meeting goes further than we 
do in recognising the equal rights of women with 
men. Women are associated in the Meeting for 
Sufierings and on all their committees." 

Later on Stanley paid repeated visits to man.y of 
the meetings in the compass of New York Yearly 
Meeting, as well as to the Mission Meetings in which 
Friends are interested. One of these is at Brooklyn, 
in close connection with Temperance work, and pro- 
ductive of much good ; another in New York is a 
Mission for the coloured people, in which Friends 
are very usefully engaged. He also attended several 
meetings at Poughkeepsie. At the last of these his 
address was on the Deity of Christ. "There are 
eleven or twelve \nstances recorded in the New Tes- 
tament of worship being offered to Christ. There is 
no parallel to this in the Bible of such spontaneous 
and adoring homage being rendered. Indeed, where 
offered to men or to angels it is represented as being 
earnestly refused. Jesus accepts it as His right with 
a simplicity and naturalness xtry remarkable. Con- 
trast the punishment of Herod for accepting an hon- 
our that belonged to God." 

* They have about 70 Ministers, and 240 Elders, so that one- 
tenth of their members are under these two appointments. 



New York. 177 

"From Poughkeepsie to Smyrna can hardly be 
less than two hundred miles, and nearly an equal 
distance thence to Glens Falls. It seemed a long 
journey to take for three days' work, but I was never 
likely to have an equally good opportunity, and I 
had been urged not to pass them by. I am glad I 
went. Indications were not wanting that it was the 
right thing. On the New York Central, the great 
four-track line that runs from Albany to Buffalo, 
they carry you at two cents a mile, a rate lower than 
you meet with almost anywhere. The change of the 
seasons is so rapid that with the mercury at 90° I 
saw the remains of snow drifts on the hill sides. It 
is a sudden leap from winter to summer, and we 
seem to have had no spring. The Meeting House at 
West Branch is a good size, and here Le Ray 
Quarterly Meeting used to be held, and larger 
crowds assembled than could be accommodated." 

Stanley Pumphrey spent some time at Glens Falls, 
and paid a short visit to Saratoga, which is a city of 
hotels. The population is about 8000, but in the 
season is said to rise to 30,000. One hotel has ac- 
commodation for 1300 visitors, and others are nearly 
as large. The great attraction of the place lies in its 
medicinal spring. Every gallon of water at the 
Congress Spring contains 400 grains of salt, 121 
grains of bicarbonate of magnesia, 143 of bicarbonate 
of lime, about 35 grains of thirteen other chemicals, 
and is strongly impregnated with carbonic acid gas. 
The flavour is pleasant, and the water may be taken 
freely with advantage to the health. Henry Lawrence, 
who drove Stanley through the city, is the proprietor 
8* 



178 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

of another spring, the Excelsior, and his business is 
bottling the water and sending it over the world. 

Sarah F. Smiley, author of Fulness of Blessing, has 
built herself a charming cottage close by Henry 
Lawrence's country house. '' It stands on a bank 
looking over meadows to a wood. The little garden 
is well taken care of. Fountains are provided for 
the birds, and the little squirrels are made to feel at 
home. Three fine trees, bearing the names of the 
patriarchs, shade the dwelling, and a little distance 
from them is a fourth tall tree called Moses. Here 
Sarah F. Smiley rests and studies during the summer 
months. In the winter she is always out preaching 
and teaching." 

Stanley found opportunity in the autumn of 1876 
to gratify the long-cherished desire of seeing the 
Falls of Niagara ; and with his intense love of na- 
ture, threw himself heartily into the enjoyment, which 
formed a fitting interlude amid the long succession 
of attendance at meetings. He says : — 

''We reached the Falls Station at 2 a.m. But I 
rose early to get a short view before breakfast, for 
the noise of the rapids roused me so that I could not 
sleep. I took Goat Island to start with. We crossed 
by a good iron bridge the river which forms the 
American fall, and another stream that forms the nar- 
row middle one, and were then on Goat Island. This 
island is much larger than I expected, the front be- 
ing as wide as the American fall, and it contains 
seventy-five acres, covered with forest, which has 
been allowed to retain its wildness. From Goat 
Island you see the American fall on the one side 



New York, 179 

and the Canadian on the other. The river which 
forms the American fall is 900 feet wide, and is un- 
equally divided by Luna Island, to which you cross 
by a bridge of 100 feet. Walking through the woods 
to the opposite side of Goat Island, you come to the 
^di^Q of the great Canadian fall, with its span of 
over 2000 feet. After breakfast I wxnt to Prospect 
Park, where you look on the very edge of the 
American fall, from the parapet of a well-built wall, 
and across the river to the grand curve of the Horse- 
shoe. The grandeur of the scene grows upon you. 
The river below the falls narrows at once, and is 
soon not more than 250 yards wide. The water is a 
dull lead colour, and appears to move sluggishly as 
you look down on it from a height of 200 feet. A 
streak of foam floats lazily with the current. You 
naturally ask — Can this be the same river, the over- 
flow of those vast inland seas, that has just formed 
that glorious breadth of cataract ? But in saying 
this you fail to take into account the depth of water, 
said to be not less than 300 feet, and the swiftness of 
the current that sweeps beneath. 

"A train at 9.40 took me down to the Whirlpool 
Rapids. On arrival, a descent of 250 feet, effected 
by a lift, brings you to the bed of the river, here nar- 
rowed to 300 feet, and rushing impetuously between 
lofty cliffs covered with trees wherever there is lodg- 
ment for their roots. Up and down the river, for per- 
haps half a mile each way, the waters surge along. 
Standing with a crowd, on a smooth deal platform, is 
not the way to enjoy a scene like this, so I queried, 
* Is there no path further down ? ' as I looked at the 



l8o Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

still more tumultuous tossing billows just below. 
*No, there is no path,' was the reply, /but you can 
scramble down over those rocks safe enough.' Soon 
I was shut out from all my fellow tourists, and was 
alone among the rocks by the edge of the torrent. 
The waves were tossing like the sea in the wildest 
storm. But the sea has its intervals of rest ; this wild 
torrent none. It reminded me of the torrent of the 
Ticino my father and I saw together in North Italy, 
but the water was here multiplied a thousand-fold. 
It is time to pass on, and I cross the suspension 
bridge. This bridge is 800 feet long, and 250 feet 
above the river, and so strong that the passing of 
the locomotive does not perceptibly make it vibrate. 
* Am I on British soil again ? ' I ask, as I give up my 
ticket. 'Yes, Sir.' '■ Hurrah ! that is the first time I 
have had that satisfaction for a year,' and I walk 
along all the more complacently because again in 
our good Queen's dominions. It is about two miles 
to the falls, and the banks are very steep. Every 
now and then you come upon the slightly uncom- 
fortable announcement that here so-and-so fell over 
at such a time. But it is one of the enjoyments of 
Niagara that you never have any sense of danger 
while you keep the paths. We again near the cat- 
aract. This is the place to see it. We are right op- 
posite the American fall, getting a full front view as 
the waters grandly sweep over. To the right is the 
far more sublime Canadian fall, with its majestic 
sweep. Look at the spray. It is a dense cloud, 
blotting out a third of the cataract, and rising up till 
it melts into the sky. In some parts, the water, as it 



New York. i8i 

rounds over the edge, is twenty feet deep. A dis- 
carded vessel, drawing eighteen feet of water, was 
once sent over, and did not graze the rock. The 
emerald colour, nothing can exceed it, as those deep 
waters arch over the edge. There is also the purity 
of that great robe of white, Avhich no painter can 
adequately convey. The woods of Goat Island, 
stretching back half a mile, are a great addition to 
the picture. There is also the long, low line of trees 
on the Canadian shore. I could wash my hands in 
the waters ere they take the plunge. 

" But I turn, for I want to see the fall from below. 
Good steps and a well-trodden path lead down the 
bank. Oil-skin dresses for a dollar, and a guide into 
the bargain. Both are needless. Protected by an 
overcoat and umbrella, I go beneath the fall ; yes, 
right behind the skirts of the main fall. It is very 
grand to see how the waters arch smoothly overhead, 
and roar tumultuously seventy feet below. Below 
me is the great mass of rock that fell some years 
ago. 

" The boat is about to cross the river, and as we 
are ferried over, we have magnificent views again. 
One thought only is appropriate atrsuch an hour, 
the one with which Buckingham concludes his poem, 
' O Lord, Creator of these wonders, how great Thou 
art.' I rest while ascending with the car on the 
incline, and am soon on the Sister Islands. These 
are outposts of Goat Island, and are connected 
with it by a series of bridges. The finest view of the 
rapids above the fall is undoubtedly here. How 
gloriously beautiful, that sweep of waters towards 



1 82 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Goat Island. Did Buckingham call Niagara a King ? 
Say rather a High Priest, for this must surely be the 
grand temple of the God of nature. How unsullied 
the pure whiteness of his majestic robe. The spray, 
as incense, rises into heaven's blue, and mingles with 
the clouds. And the sound, not deafening, as oft 
described, but like the voice of God — ' His voice was 
as the sound of many waters.' It is awe-inspiring, 
but not overwhelming. I bow my head and wor- 
ship. Lord, teach me to appreciate the yet greater 
glories Thou hast revealed. * As many waters ! ' A 
thousand rivers and ten thousand streams are min- 
gling here. The fountains of Erie, of Michigan, and 
Huron ; those also of that vaster and more distant 
sea, one thousand, two thousand miles away. Every 
tiny rivulet swells the torrent, as every saint con- 
tributes to the glory of the host of God. But what 
is this gem at my feet ? It is the fringed gentian, 
fairest of flowers. Oh, Thou Author and Artist of 
all loveliness, amid all this wealth of emerald and 
crystal, must Thy unrivalled pencil add for us these 
tiny blossoms ? 

" Whether I ever see Niagara again or no, it re- 
paains to me henceforth a joy for ever." 



CHAPTER XV. 



NEW ENGLAND. 



*' I DROVE over to Amesbury, Massachusetts, from 
Newberry, crossing the Merrimack on the way — the 
beautiful river near which, as John G. Whittier tells 
us in Chalkley Hall, he followed the plough when a 
boy. Amesbury is a pretty country town where a 
few manufactures are carried on without much de- 
tracting from its rural character. The streets are 
shaded by fine elm trees, and the poet lives in a neat 
little wooden house painted white, with a piazza at 
the side. There are three little sitting-rooms on the 
ground floor, and in the one used as his study we 
spent most of the time I was there. He met me at 
the door, and gave me a kind welcome. He is al- 
tered since the likeness was taken we commonly see 
in his poems, and his hair and beard are white. He 
has a fine brow, and his face is indicative of thought- 
fulness. I am told that his reputation is rising day 
by day in America, and they look upon him as the 
peer of their first literary men. 

'' ' I cannot study much now,' said Whittier, 'and 
spend much of my time in the open air. I was 
brought up on a farm, and farm surroundings suit 
me in my old age. For thirty years I lived on a 
farm doing farm work. The next twenty years were 



1 84 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

given to the anti-slavery cause. I was the secretary 
of the Anti-Slavery Society, and during two years 
edited a paper in the interests of the slave in Phila- 
delphia ; but they burnt my office, and drove me 
away. I was obliged to borrow the light drab suit 
of a very plain Friend and escape in this disguise, or 
they would have torn me to pieces, so intense was 
the feeling against the abolitionists in those days.' 

" Our conversation naturally turned a good deal 
on the Society of Friends, of Avhich he is a warmly 
attached member. Many of the holiest examples of 
Christian life he had known had been Quakers of 
the olden time. 

*' * I have been particularly struck,' he said, 'with 
the calmness with which Joseph Sturge went right 
on, no m.atter what was said of him, with full confi- 
dence in the ultimate triumph of the right ; looking 
day by day for the guidance of the Spirit, and for 
the power of divine grace to do the will of God. 
This is what constitutes fundamentally the distinc- 
tive attitude of Quakerism. I reverence the memory 
of William Forster and his earnest persuasive plead- 
ing, and I never heard any ministry characterized 
by so much power and unction as that of Benjamin 
Seebohm. There was a depth of thought in it that 
appealed especially to cultivated men. John Wool- 
man is my ideal saint. I have introduced his biog- 
raphy to the notice of many of my literary friends, 
and they are always charmed with it. Channing 
said, * That life is not the property of a sect. You 
don't know the treasure you have in that volume.' 

" Whittier went on to speak of the literary men of 



New England. 185 

America, adding, ' But Tennyson is decidedly the 
first of living poets. His " In Memoriam " is a great 
poem. With regard to Milton, I enjoy his prose 
works more than his poetry ; they are full of grand 
thoughts nobly expressed. The love of truth and 
liberty that breathes in them is sublime.' He spoke 
of the Vedas and early Hindu writings. * Some of 
them contain great and truly Christian thoughts, 
akin to 'some we meet with in the New Testament. 
Some people are afraid when they meet with coinci- 
dences like this. Why should we be ? Why not re- 
joice at truth wherever we find it, and especially 
when we find it in unlikely places ? Does it not 
show us that the Great Father has not left Himself ' 
without a witness ; and that, according to the old 
Quaker doctrine, He has other ways of teaching his 
children beside the written revelation that He has 
given them ? Look at the writings of that noble 
heathen philosopher Marcus Aurelius, teaching as 
he does the same lessons of forgiveness that we find 
in the Sermon on the Mount. I cannot help wishing 
he had known Paul. His thoughts of Christianity 
might have been so different then. Church history 
is very sad and humiliating. Luther had a rough 
piece of work to do, and he was the man to do it. 
But mere copyists are always feeble, and we had 
better hold our own ground. 

" Think of such men as Stephen Grellet and Chalk- 
ley. If theirs is not Christianity, I do not know where 
to find it. I was brought up on Friends' books ; they 
were at one time almost my only reading : I learned 
to love them, and have never lost my love. I admire 



1 86 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

some of the Roman Catholic saints, but am well sat- 
isfied that the saints of the Quaker calendar are quite 
their peers. One of the finest features about them is 
that they were so utterly unconscious of their saint- 
hood. I cannot regard Quakerism as a failure ; and 
have confidence in its ultimate triumph. The influ- 
ence of the godly example of those who have sought 
faithfully to follow the leadings of the Spirit can 
never be lost,* and the influence of the Friends on 
the early history of America has probably been 
stronger than that of any other set of men except 
the Puritans. We see it in the institutions and legis- 
lation of the country.' " 

Tn a subsequent visit to Whittier, Stanley had the 
welcome company of Pliny E. Chase, whose brother, 
Thomas Chase, was then engaged on the committee 
for the revision of the New Testament. 

" I hope," said Whittier, turning to Pliny E. Chase, 
*' that the revisors will not interfere with the English 
of the Bible. The translators no doubt made some 
mistakes, but they certainly expressed themselves in 
some of the purest and noblest English. I am sur- 
prised at the anxiety of some religious teachers with 
regard to the effect of scientific investigations. We 
must never be afraid of truth ; and more than that, 
truth can never contradict itself. Even if evolution 
can be proved, it does not affect the doctrines of 
Christianity. 

Pliny E. Chase replied, "The fault of scientific 

* ** Show me a man," writes the Rev. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, 
*' who is altogether and absolutely led by the Spirit of God, and I 
will show you the orthodox man." 



New England. 187 

investigators is apt to be that they are too hasty in 
making generalizations, and too ready to confine 
their attention to the facts that support their own 
theories." 

Whittier added, '' Our reforms are slow, but the 
Lord is very patient." 

Pliny E. Chase says, with respect to this interview 
— " It was a memorable time, and has done me good, 
mentally and spiritually. A belief such as ours in 
the immanence of the Divine Spirit is just the kind 
of truth that is needed to counteract some of the 
tendencies of scientific speculation." 

Not long after his first visit to Whittier, Stanley 
Pumphrey had the privilege of an interview with 
another illustrious New, England poet — Henry W. 
Longfellow, of which he gives the following account 
in his diary : — 

'' Eighth Month, 15th, 1876.— Yesterday I had the 
great pleasure of my promised visit to Longfellow 
My kind friend, Augustine Jones, went with me, and 
we reached the poet's house about half -past ten. 

" He had gone into Boston, but was likely to 
return at noon. We spent the interval in a visit to 
the Agassiz Museum. It is a very fine collection, 
and in fishes, Agassiz' specialty, is far more com- 
plete than the British Museum. Indeed, I think I 
was told they have four times as many specimens. 
We strolled back at noon, and found that Long- 
fellow was still out, but were informed he might 
return any moment, so we sat down under the shade 
of some trees in his carriage drive, and made up our 
minds to wait till one. We beguiled the time with 



1 88 Memories of Staiiley Pumphrey. 

reading The New England Tragedy of John Endicoti, a. 
book Augustine Jones had kindly procured for me, 
as he found I had not read it. The time had almost 
passed, when, to our great delight, the poet drove 
in, accompanied by one of his daughters. I don't 
know whether it was Alice or laughing Allegra. But 
she is a little girl no longer. The house where Long- 
fellow lives is historically interesting as having been 
once the home of Washington, They seem to have 
taken a pride in preserving the old style ; the antique 
balusters, the heavy brass knocker and brass fittings 
to the door, and the old trees on the public avenue, 
are all preserved with care. 

When Whittier's note of introduction had been 
presented, he came out and gave us a warm and 
kindly greeting. He is an old man of about seventy, 
but sprightly, looking very like the portraits we have 
lately seen, long white hair, beard and moustache, a 
pair of very bright eyes, and a pleasing face. He is 
a complete gentleman, and at once set us at our ease. 
He made kind enquiries for Whittier, for whom he 
has a warm regard. ' We are almost ready to wish 
your friend Whittier a few vices ; perhaps then he 
would come amongst us a little more. I've tried 
hard to get him here, and never succeeded but once. 
I think he is a true poet, and a very lovely one. His 
writings are a great enjoyment to me. I was reading 
some of them yesterday — * Abraham Davenport ' and 
* Amy Wentworth.' 

" Then he opened the book and read a few stanzas 
from the latter that had specially pleased him. I 
said, ' Abraham Davenport ' is one of my greatest fa- 



New England. 189 

vourites ; it has the right ring. *Yes,' he said, 'the 
right ring. A man who is doing his duty should 
never be afraid to meet his Maker ; ' and he quoted 
laughingly, ' Bring in the candles.' 

'* He spoke of the lines on Joseph Sturge as char- 
acterized by special strength. I was glad to be able 
to tell him that Sturge was my father's friend, and 
to say how truly the character was drawn, — that my 
father had taken me to see him when I was a boy, in 
order to impress a love of goodness on my heart. 

'' Then we spoke of Friends, for whom he has a 
warm regard, though not knowing many of them 
personally. * They have left their mark on Pennsyl- 
vania very favourably — America owes them much. 
There is a saint-like beauty about the faces of their 
women which I have often loved to mark as I pass 
them in the streets. There was one who came over 
from England in early times, because she wanted to 
work for the Indians. I ought to remember her name, 
for I wrote something about her.'* I suggested that it 
might be Elizabeth Haddon. ' Yes, that was the one,' 
and then we recalled her romantic history and mar- 
riage with John Estaugh. ' The New England Trag- 
edies ' were next referred to, and he asked us if we 
thought he had described Friends fairly. Augustine 
Jones thought he had, but reminded him that his ac- 
count had provoked a good deal of adverse criticism 
from Puritan sympathisers, instancing one individual 
in particular. Longfellow had not heard of this be- 

*"The Theologian's Tale," "Tales of Wayside Inn."— Z^?;?^- 
felloxo. 



IQO Memories of Stanley Pmnphrey. 

fore, and I suppose this critic was not one he cared 
much about, for he said it reminded him of what the 
cow said to the fly which had settled on her horn : * I 
didn't know you were there.' 

" I said the early history of Friends was full of 
noble incidents. Whittier had done justice to one of 
these in 'Barclay of Ury,' and I could not help re- 
gretting he had not done the same by Penn. Long- 
fellow responded, speaking highly of Penn, and say- 
ing that he thought Macaulay had done him great 
injustice. The worst of it is, when a mistake was 
proved against him, Macaulay stuck to it ; that is 
not worthy of a great mind. 

" Whittier's name kept coming up while we talked. 
I said, ' His works have not nearly so many readers 
in England as Longfellow's.' He replied, *I am 
aware of it ; his works are not appreciated by you at 
all as they ought to be.' Then I thanked him, and 
said I was sure I might do it in the name of very 
many of my countrymen, for the great pleasure his 
writings had given us. I added that there was one 
of his w^orks that I had not yet found time to read, 
but which I looked forward to doing with great in- 
terest — the translation of Dante. I thought he must 
have greatly enjoyed the labour, though he would 
doubtless find some sentiments and many descrip- 
tions that would not be congenial. In talking to 
Whittier I found he greatly preferred the * Purga- 
torio ' before either of the other sections. * Perhaps,' 
Longfellow replied^ * the '* Purgatorio " may be the 
greatest poem of the three ; the closing cantos are 
very fine, but I enjoyed the " Paradiso." Take that 



New England. 191 

interview with Peter, the twenty-seventh canto.' I 
spoke of some of the thoughts he presents to us of 
heaven ; of that favourite passage of mine in the 
third canto, of the growing loveliness as we approach 
the Lord, and of the everlasting fountain of knowl- 
edge and truth opened to the redeemed in Him. 
Longfellow reached the volume and read part of the 
canto to which he referred. It was a treat to hear 
him. He reads well, and threw much animation into 
it as his bright eye kindled and sparkled more than 
ever. Peter's withering denunciation of the vices of 
his successors in the chair, which made him who had 
glowed like Jupiter blush like Mars ; all heaven red- 
dened with shame as he spoke to Beatrice. ' To 
think of that being written in the days of the full 
power of the papacy ! ' exclaimed Longfellow. 

*' We had spent half an hour with him, and thought 
we ought not to trespass longer on his time. I said, 
* May I ask one favour — that you will return me 
Whittier's note of introduction with your own auto- 
graph attached? ' O, certainly,' he said, 'I will en- 
dorse it with great pleasure, " Seen and approved, 
Henry W. Longfellow. Cambridge, August 24, 
1876." ' He accompanied us to the door and took a 
very cordial leave." 

" Now I must return to my journal which broke 
off at Worcester. I found that good city a pleasant 
place to stop at, like our own in old England. The 
city is an important manufacturing centre. We 
went to the wire works, said to be the largest in the 
world, where they employ a thousand hands. It is 
a wonderful sight to see a rod twenty feet long put 



192 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

into a furnace and then drawn out in about two 
minutes a coil of wire a quarter of a mile long. It 
is passed by a newly-invented process, which an 
Englishman and an American amicably perfected 
between them, through a succession of dies, some 
round, some octagon, but each leaving the rod with 
diminished diameter. The men draw out the wire, 
whirling it to cool on the floor, where it twists about 
like a fiery creeping serpent ; and then picking it 
up, the men pass it through another machine to be 
wound in a coil. The galvanizing of telegraph 
wires, and the preparation of piano wires also inter- 
ested me. 

*'The New England Yearly Meeting of 1876, held 
at Newport, Rhode Island, was small, partly in con- 
sequence of the counter attraction of the Centennial, 
and partly on account of the depressed state of com- 
merce making it incumbent on people to economise. 
New England Yearly Meeting is more like our own 
than any I have attended, except perhaps Baltimore. 
There are a considerable number of wealthy and 
well-educated people among them and a disposition 
among the members to think for themselves instead 
of letting a few leaders do it all for them. Eli Jones 
is a man of mark and power among them, but can- 
not always get his own way. The young men many 
of them go West, and a good many do not marry 
Quaker wives, and while they do not lose their mem- 
bership thereby, their children do not come on the 
Society's books. The Foreign Mission meeting was 
capital. Eli Jones was the speaker of the evening, 
and gave a very interesting account of the Brumana 



New England. . 193 

Mission in Syria, depicting the meetings there and 
the members very vividly. An epistle from Brum- 
ana to the Yearly Meeting was read. I spoke to 
them of the work in Madagascar. The concluding 
meeting was a very precious one. Elkanah Beard 
alluded to a motto he saw hung out during the visit 
of the Prince of Wales to India, * Love — show it.' 
The story runs, some little birds were chirping in a 
nest; one said, *I love you, I love you,' and the 
other answered, 'Show it, show it, show it.' Thus 
let no one who comes to our meetings feel as though 
they were overlooked. Let attenders be visited at 
their own homes. A young man landed at New 
York, and enquired for the nearest place of worship. 
He was directed to a beautiful place where every- 
thing was well-conducted, the music good and 
nothing to offend, but no one took any notice of 
him. In the afternoon he went to a less assuming 
chapel, but there he was kindly greeted as he went 
in, was shown a good seat, and the minister came 
down from the pulpit before he could get away at 
the end, and gave him a hearty shake of the hand, 
and that shook a whole generation of preachers into 
the Methodist Church, for he became a useful mem- 
ber and his three sons all joined the ministry. 

" Leaving Newport, Rhode Island, I had a beauti- 
ful sail of two hours up Narragansett Bay. Provi- 
dence is situated just at the head of the Bay, and is 
a fine city of 100,000 inhabitants. It is tolerably 
rich in steeples and public buildings, but the most 
prominent building is the gas-works, the gasometer 
being covered by a large white dome bigger than the 



194 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

dome of St. Peter's. The Friends' School is on high 
ground above the town, and from the cupola is one 
of the finest views in America, embracing a consider- 
able portion of the little State of Rhode Island, and 
Narragansett Bay and islands. The school is one 
of the best institutions of the kind in America. It 
is under the care of Albert K. Smiley, brother of 
Sarah Smiley. The attendance is about 120 boys 
and 100 girls. They remain at school much longer 
in these institutions than is usual with us in England, 
and many of them are from eighteen to twenty-one 
years of age. Education seems to be carried to a 
higher pitch than at many of our own public schools. 
Fourteen of the students had graduated in the year 
and were presented with certificates." 

Elkanah Beard accompanied Stanley through most 
of New England, and was very helpful. At the 
meeting at Falmouth, Stanley gave a discourse on a 
water lily which a kind friend had given him as he 
entered the meeting. 

'' This flower, when handed to me, was very fra- 
grant and very beautiful. Yet its root had no come- 
liness, and grew out of the mire. See what lovely 
things God can make from very unpromising ma- 
terial. In the world of grace, those that have been 
black become comely ; those that have been dark 
as the Arabian tents are made glorious, like the 
curtains of Solomon. From the length of the stalk 
of this flower, we see it has grown up through 
deep waters ; and the most beautiful lives are devel- 
oped by trial ; they rise through it, and unfold their 
blossoms to the Sun of Righteousness. This flower, 



New England. 195 

lately so beautiful, is now withered. Why ? Be- 
cause it is severed from the root. Christ is our root. 
Severed from Him we have no beauty, no life. 
*■ Consider the lilies, how they grow.' " 

On the 8th of July, 1876, Stanley started for Nan- 
tucket in company with Elkanah Beard. Passing 
the Elizabeth Islands, and the island of Martha's 
Vineyard, a pleasant three hours' sail brought them 
to land. 

*' The island is something the shape of the cres- 
cent moon. The horns are constantly growing from 
the washing up of sand, the western horn having ex- 
tended five miles in two generations. The town is 
on rising ground in the centre of the island. The 
harbour is shallow. It was once the seat of the whal- 
ing trade, 100 whalers, and 200 other vessels belong- 
ing to the port ; but Nantucket declined as New 
Bedford rose, and now the whole of the whaling trade 
has left it, and the population has gone down from 
9000 to a little over 3000. In connection with the 
Society of Friends, Nantucket is of historical interest. 
Whittier, in his ballad of the exiles, has described the 
first settlement of the Macys on the island. Friends 
were not an important community till the visit of 
Samuel Bownas who had a remarkable meeting here, 
and by his ministry convinced a 'great woman,' 
Mary Starbuck. Through her influence the leading 
people of the island all joined Friends, and the 
others not being able to maintain a priest, came in 
also. Samuel Fothergill speaks of attending a Year- 
ly Meeting on Nantucket, in 1755, at which 1500 
were present, mostly Friends, and 400 more belong- 



196 Memories of Stajiley Pump/trey. 

ing to the Society were away with their boats. Some 
time later the number of Friends rose to 2000. 
Within the memory of persons now living there 
were two large Monthly Meetings, with probably 
1500 members. The first great blow the Society re- 
ceived was through the Hicksite secession, which 
here alone, of the New England Meetings, drew off 
a large number. 

"Then followed a period of severe disciplinary 
proceedings. A Friend, a native of Nantucket, says 
his boyish recollection is that about five persons 
were disowned every month. They were in a 
chronic state of disputation for about fifty years. By 
1846 the number of members had dwindled to about 
400, of whom three-fourths went oflE with John Wil- 
bur. Both branches have steadily declined. If 
people get into a fault-finding spirit, and make up 
their minds that they will not unite with any who do 
not see with them on all points, they quickly scatter. 
Self-will has a good deal to do with it." 

There is much that is humiliating in the inner 
history of Christian churches ; yet the lessons of 
church history are intensely important to the wel- 
fare of the churches of to-day, and we cannot afford 
to shut our eyes to the lessons of the past, however 
humbling they may be. But other causes have been 
at work in the decline of the Society in Nantucket. 
Friends seldom stay in a declining town, and the 
young people have been moving off for many years 
past. It was from Nantucket that the colony of 
Starbucks came, who founded the little meeting at 
Mil ford Haven, in South Wales. 



New England, 197 

''A large proportion of the meetings in New Eng- 
land are in a declining state, and the aspect of the 
Society is not encouraging. I have often had to 
preach as forcibly as I could on the atoning work of 
the Saviour, and that He is the Son of God and One 
with the Father. 

** At Lynn I spoke from Romans xii. i, recapitu- 
lating the mercies of God as described in the pre- 
vious chapters, and endeavouring to set forth the 
truth as taught in Paul's great doctrinal epistle — the 
fall of man, the universal and imperative need of 
salvation, in this respect 'no difference,' for all, 
whether their sins have been more or less flagrant, 
are debtors, having nothing to pay ; the utter folly 
of thinking we could deserve heaven, illustrated by 
the saying of Franklin that it was like expecting to 
be rewarded for a draught of water by the gift of a 
plantation ; the free gift of salvation through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in His blood, a blessing we lay hold of 
by faith and thus receive peace with God through 
Him ; deliverance from the power as well as redemp- 
tion from the guilt of sin, the gift of the Spirit, the 
blessings brought through that gift, adoption, son- 
ship, heirship, fellowship (the honour of fellowship 
in suffering), inseparable love. My heart glowed 
and my tongue was loosed as these glorious themes 
were brought before my view. ' I want to talk to you 
about many things, some time,' said a woman Friend 
to me afterwards ; ' there is one question I want to 
put now.' And then, in a tone searching as the 
voice of conscience, she queried, ' Is there not some- 



198 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

thing gratifying to you in finding that your preach- 
ing is admired ? ' I told her something of what the 
Lord had done for me, but I dared not give a clear 
reply, and the salutary conviction was sealed by the 
faithful question, that self was not wholly crucified, 
and that I need to beware." 



CHAPTER XVI. 



KANSAS. 



" Kansas is the youngest in the family of Yearly 
Meetings, but has already over 4000 members. It is 
here you see the most distinctly what frontier life is, 
and are able to appreciate the labours and the dis- 
advantages encountered in the first settlement of a 
country. I was there on three several occasions. 
When I first went they had been suffering griev- 
ously from drought and grasshoppers. I thought 
I had never before so vividly realized the wisdom of 
the prayer, ' Give me neither poverty nor riches.' I 
had felt the force of the latter half of the petition, 
but not of the former. I now saw clearly that hard 
toil and grinding poverty are not favourable for 
spiritual development, and that 'give not poverty* 
is an appropriate prayer. At the last Yearly Meet- 
ing I attended in Kansas there was evidence of some 
improvement in the outward position of a portion of 
the meeting, but marks of continued poverty among 
others were only too numerous. No Friend was 
present from Walnut Creek quarter, 200 miles off to 
the north-west, though it has 800 members. It was 
well known that lack of means was the only cause. 
Our dear friends Helen Balkwill and Susan Doyle 
spent a month in that district. They laboured with 



200 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey, 

patience and devotion, and their work was blessed. 
They found many Friends living in earth caves, called 
' dug-outs ' — holes made in banks, where the only 
entrance for light and air is from the front. There 
is no timber in that part of the country, and this is 
the best thing they could do. In some cases ' dug- 
outs ' are used for Meeting Houses. In the Men's 
Yearly Meeting of 1878, a valued minister, Hannah 
Tatum, came in with a singular message. She ex- 
horted the men to be kind and thoughtful to their 
wives, not to let them work too hard, but to be ready 
to lighten their burdens by fetching the buckets of 
water and chopping the wood. She knew what fron- 
tier life was, for she had passed through it in Iowa, 
and, had she not had a kind husband, who was ready 
to do such things for her, she did not think she would 
have lived to deliver this message. I believe it was 
a right message, and there was sound sense and prac- 
tical Christianity in it. 

" Most of the Friends in the station of minister are 
poor ; and they make sacrifices in the discharge of 
their work of which we can form little conception. 
Friends in the west have not yet those systematic 
arrangements that we have for meeting the expenses 
of those who travel in the ministry ; and thus it 
often happens that the preachers not only give their 
time but their money too. Some have really been 
impoverished in this way. I heard one Friend say 
that in the thirty years of his ministry he had paid 
for travelling expenses in his religious journeys 2500 
dollars ; while from the Friends of the Quarterly 
Meetinsrs that had liberated him for service he had 



Kansas. 201 

only received assistance to the extent of 56 dollars. 
He was not a man who could afford it ; and I do not 
wonder that, under such circumstances, many have 
felt and said that their brethren were not doing their 
right part in aiding them. 

*' Kansas Yearly Meeting assembled at Lawrence 
on the 6th October, 1876. The house stands just 
outside the town. It is a good stone building of two 
stories, the men occupying the basement, the women 
being in the room above. There are two wings to 
the building, in which are sundry committee-rooms ; 
and there is a good sized piece of ground surround- 
ing it. There were seldom more than a hundred and 
fifty men present. J. Beyan Braithwaite of London, 
and Robert W. Douglas, John Frederick Hansen, and 
other ministers from a distance were present, includ- 
ing Thomas H. Dana, an Oneida Indian, who is a 
recognized preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church." 

The experience of this Indian is best given in his 
own words. He says : — ''From my earliest recollec- 
tion I well remember that the Great Spirit strove 
with me, condemning me when I did wrong, and ap- 
proving when I did right. At seven years old — my 
mother being dead, and my father having forsaken 
me — feeling desolate, I was going into the woods to 
die. It was dark, and I halted to wait for the dawn. 
As I sat in the hollow of a hemlock tree, the Great 
Spirit said to me,-' Sunrise (this was my name), get 
down on thy knees, and look up.' I did not under- 
stand what this meant, but I obeyed, got down on 
my knees and remained silent. I rose ; and the Great 
9* 



202 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Spirit said to me again, * Sunrise, get down upon thy 
knees.' I again knelt down and waited till I was 
weary. Then I rose ; and the Great Spirit said to 
me again, * Sunrise, put off thy crown and strip thy- 
self of thy ornaments.' I had on my head an Indian 
crown such as were worn by the children of chiefs, 
and many other ornaments, a child's tomahawk, knife, 
and bow and arrows. I stripped all off; took my 
crown, crushed it up ; put all the things together, 
tied my bowstring round them, and tossed them out 
of the hollow of the tree. The Great Spirit again 
said, ' Sunrise, go down on thy knees.' While wait- 
ing in profound silence, there seemed a light like 
lightning shining around. It came into the tree, 
and lighted on my head, going all over me and 
through me. After this I was in perfect peace and 
rest ; I loved everybody ; my troubles were all gone. 
I rose and returned to the camp. Ever since I have 
lived in this peace and rest. At this time I had never 
heard of Christ or of the Bible, and knew nothing of 
prayer. On my return to the camp my friends at 
once recognised the change in me, and one of my re- 
lations said, ' The Great Spirit has been speaking to 
him.' These words made a great impression on them; 
and when, soon after, a Christian teacher came round, 
he found us in a prepared condition to receive the 
Gospel." 

''At twelve years of age he received a call to the 
ministry, the inward moving of the Holy Spirit and 
earnest love for the souls of men being the evidence 
of the commission. For thirty-five years he has been 
labouring among the Indians, chiefly the Oneidas 



Kansas. 203 

and Senecas of New York State. His uncle, who 
lived to the age of 106, told him of pious Indians of 
the Oneida tribe who lived before white men came 
among them, and he believed the Lord had gathered 
many into his garner from among them. 

''The clerk of the Yearly Meeting is William Nich- 
olson, the superintendent of the Indian Agencies. 
J. B. Braithwaite had a very interesting interview 
with the Indian Agents. He spoke to them beauti- 
fully from the words, ' Thy shoes shall be iron and 
brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength be,' show- 
ing how the Lord fortifies us against the roughness 
of the way. A beautiful prayer for the blessing of 
God upon the Indian work, and on all who are en- 
gaged in it, followed. A Cheyenne Indian, called 
' Big Horse,' afterwards made a speech. Agent Miles 
interpreting. It was almost all done by the lan- 
guage of signs which is common to all the tribes." 

After Yearly Meeting, Enoch Hoag and Stanley 
Pumphrey passed on to the country meetings in 
Kansas, and very cordial were the welcomes they 
received. In these outlying districts the visits of 
ministers are far between, and the expression of 
sympathy and Christian interest amid the hard toil 
and rough experiences of Western farm-life was 
doubly cheering. But such visits sometimes involved 
a good deal of personal discomfort. On entering 
one of these isolated homesteads, Stanley remarks : 
"There was little room to spare. The dining-table 
occupied the full breadth of the end of the room, and 
the cooking-stove filled a large part of the remain- 
ing space. A tall, active woman was clearing off 



204 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

supper, two lively little boys were coursing about, a 
sister-in-law vras looking after two babies, and we 
filled in somewhere in the remaining space. The 
mistress was informed I came from England, at which 
she burst into a loud laugh and said, ' Well, I should 
like to know what he wants to come here for. ' In 
the course of the evening another brother and his 
wife came in. These settlers in the far west have a 
hard time of it, and claim the strong sympathy of 
those who stay amid happier surroundings. When 
bedtime came, we learned that there was but one 
bedroom. I suggested that I had been camping out, 
and as the kitchen was nice and warm, I would like 
to be allowed to make my bed there on the floor. 
Of this, however, they would not hear. They had 
fixed the bed upstairs, and there we must go. We 
were nearly being too late for the train next morning, 
and if we had missed it we should have been prison- 
ers till the following morning, as there is only one 
train a day, according to the usage of these back 
country lines." 

"I felt it right to propose visiting Friends in 
their families at Cottonwood, to which they at once 
assented. It is the first time I have done this in any 
meeting in America, and spent parts of three days in 
the service, in one day paying fourteen visits. I felt 
afresh my lack of special qualification. I lay no 
claim to remarkable spiritual discernment, and could 
only ask for help, and hope that the fitting words 
might be given. I believe this apostolic practice of 
visiting from house to house ought to be more prac- 
tised than it is, and that we ought to cease to expect 



Kansas. 205 

that the secrets either of the past or the future 
should be disclosed. That this has frequently been 
done in such visits is no reason for regarding it as 
that which should always be done. 

'' The most flourishing part of Kansas Yearly 
Meeting appears to be the newly-established Quar- 
terly Meeting of Walnut Creek, two hundred miles 
to the north-west of Lawrence, on the State line 
dividing Kansas from Nebraska. The Friends there 
are very poor, many of them living in the ' dug-outs ' 
previously referred to. They find a bank, dig a cave 
in it, make aprojecting wallof the earth, roof it over, 
put in a door and perhaps a window, and the house 
is built. The traveller across the prairie sometimes 
sees a stove-pipe sticking up through the ground, 
and becomes aware that he is in the neighbourhood 
of the dwellings of his fellow-men. I was much 
pleased with one of their ministers, Andrew Wooton. 
He was a good man, deeply in earnest for the pros- 
perity of the churches. 

'' The Indians in their various agencies are longing 

for more teachers. *- Agent is a good man,' they 

say, ' looks after us well, knows how to farm, put up 
buildings, and do a heap of things, but then he can- 
not preach.' * Agent W. is a good man,' again they 
say, \ he fears God, he talks to us some, but we want 
a man with a heap of fire, who can preach to us every 
Sabbath day. We expect our children to be white 
folks when we are gone, and we want to have them 
taught. Your people have not learned us much 
about Jesus. Cannot you stop with us and teach us 
all the time ? '" 



2o6 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Stanley Pumphrey on his second and third visits 
to Kansas had the great pleasure of meeting Sarah 
B. Satterthwaite from Allonby, Cumberland, and the 
deputation from London Yearly Meeting, consisting 
of J. B. Braithwaite, J. J. Dymond, and Richard 
Littleboy. The work of this deputation was exceed- 
ingly valued in Kansas. The Yearly Meeting that 
year was considered the best and most harmonious 
they had ever held, and a Friend remarked after- 
wards, " The deputation has made the Yearly Meet- 
ing ; "and Stanley adds, *'If the deputation had 
only done what they did for Kansas, their time in 
coming over would have been well spent." He ob- 
served a marked improvement in the spiritual con- 
dition of the Kansas meetings in contrasting his first 
and last visits to them. 

'' I have learned to love Kansas Friends while 
working among them, and I see how many are their 
disadvantages, but most pioneer settlements have 
passed through similar troubles. The great need is 
an efficient ministry : men who know the truth and 
are competent to declare it. I have had no such 
leave-taking anpvhere as I had at the close of the 
meetings at Lawrence. It was touching and hum- 
bling to have so many crowding round to say farewell. 
Many were in tears, and strong men with their eyes 
brimming and their hearts too full to speak. It almost 
broke me down, and I found it difficult to utter the 
parting words for each. How little I have done to 
deserve the love they gave me ! If our poor love 
meets with such recompense, how ought we to be 
found answering the mighty love of Christ ? 



Kansas, 207 

*'My journey to St. Louis was uncomfortable. 
About six in the evening our train ran into a snow- 
drift, and there stuck fast. The stoves in the cars 
were so arranged as only to burn with the draught 
created by the motion of the train, and many of the 
windows were broken, so that we had a chilly time 
of it. There was nothing however for it but to stop 
all night. The conductor and another man plodded 
through the snow a mile or two to the nearest farm- 
house, and brought us some supper, and then we 
composed ourselves as best we could for the night." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

INDIAN TERRITORY. 

**In the course of the autumn and winter of 1876 I 
spent several weeks among the tribes in the Indian 
Territory, which, including the tribes I visited in 
Kansas, are about thirty in number, and comprehend 
a fourth of the whole Indian population of the United 
States. They include some of the wildest and worst, 
like the Comanches and Cheyennes, and some of the 
most civilized, like the Cherokees and Creeks, with 
every shade of barbarism and semi-civilization be- 
tween. My companion during the greater part of 
the trip was Enoch Hoag, who, as the head of the 
Central Superintendency, devoted himself for seven 
years to Indian work. 

" In the Eastern part of the Indian Territory, ly- 
ing between Texas and Kansas, there are five tribes 
located, commonly known as civilized tribes. These 
are the Cherokees, numbering 18,000, the descend- 
ants of the once powerful tribe that occupied the 
Carolinas and Tennessee ; the ^Creeks, numbering 
14,000, whose former home was Georgia ; the Choc- 
taws and Chickasaws, of Alabama and Mississippi, 
numbering 22,000 ; and the Seminoles, of Florida, 
who are about 2500. 

*' Among these tribes we began our tour, and at- 



Indian Territory. 209 

tended their annual fair at Muscogee. At the fair, 
citizens' dress was universal, and a large proportion 
of the people might have passed undistinguished 
along Eastern streets. The exhibition was credit- 
able as far as it went, and bore evidence of success- 
sul gardening, farming, and cattle raising. 

*' The Cherokees have a good system of Govern- 
ment, consisting of a Chief, and Upper and Lower 
Houses, and an excellent code of laws, framed on 
the model of the United States of America. Belief 
in one God and in future rew^ards and pimishments 
is made essential to rights of citizenship. Every 
male citizen aged 18 is an elector. Liberty of con- 
science is granted ; the sale of strong drink is pro- 
hibited, and the observance of the Sabbath is secured. 
Half the tribal revenue is devoted to education and 
the support of the orphans. They have eighty-one 
day schools and two high schools, the girls' school 
being under the care of an excellent Moravian minis- 
ter. The Cherokees have two newspapers, the one 
published at Muscogee, by Ross, formerly chief of 
the nation ; the other is published at Talequah, partly 
in the Cherokee alphabet invented by the ingenious 
Sequoyah, the Editor. This alphabet consists of 
eighty- five letters, representing all the syllabic sounds 
in the language, so that when a child has mastered it, 
he has learned to read. Every full-blood Cherokee 
is entitled to a copy of this paper free at the expense 
of the Treasury. The Cherokee Nation is now pro- 
fessedly Christian, and a large proportion of the 
people attend public worship, which is directed for 
the most part by a native ministry. The advance 



210 Memoj'ies of Stanley Pumphrey, 

among the Creeks has not been less marked. They 
have thirty-three day schools, and three boarding 
schools. We visited all the latter, and were exceed- 
ingly pleased with them. The Tallahassee boarding 
school has been for thirty years under the charge of 
W. S. Robertson, a Presbyterian minister, and his 
wife. Their scholars turned out well, and most of 
the rising men among the Creeks pass under their 
care. 

*'The Choctaws and Chickasaws have sixty-six 
day schools and six boarding schools. The Chicka- 
saws expend 46,000 dollars a year on education, 
which is probably the largest sum per head sub- 
scribed by any state or nation in the world for edu- 
cational purposes, amounting to an average of eight 
dollars per head for every man, woman, and child, in 
the community. Several of the members of their 
legislature are preachers, and work without pay. 
Our interpreter. Judge Folsom, is one of these. His 
brother, D. E. Folsom, is an enterprising farmer, 
with 400 acres under cultivation, and 500 head of 
cattle. He is very familiar with Shakespere, and 
quick to correct any misquotation of his favourite 
author. The leading agriculturist among the Choc- 
taws is Wilson Jones. He has 500 acres of pasture 
and 300 of arable land. Another Choctaw, named 
Paul, has 2000 acres of Indian corn. 

''The losses of the Choctaws during the Indian 
War are estimated at not less than 300,000 head of 
cattle. The Christianization and colonization of 
these five tribes is due chiefly to the labours of the 
Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. 



Indian Territory, 21 1 

** Through the kindness of their Governor, Cole- 
man Cole, we had the opportunity of meeting with 
the Choctaw Council. 

'* The Governor made a few introductory remarks 
in Choctaw, introducing us, and then Judge Folsom 
interpreted for us sentence by sentence. 

" Enoch Hoag spoke to them of his favourite and 
valuable scheme for uniting all the Indian tribes 
under one compact government, to be recognized as 
a Territory under the United States, with a delegate 
having a right to speak on the floor of the house at 
Washington. 

" I spoke about as follows : — * My brothers of the 
Choctaw nation, I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 
and have taken a Long journey to come to see you. 
I wish you to know that in England you have many 
friends. In the land of William Penn and among 
the children of William Penn you have many warm 
friends, who would rejoice in your prosperity. God 
has given you a good land ; you have wide prairies, 
extensive woods, fine rivers, and a fertile soil. At 
the fair at Muscogee I saw the proof of what your 
land can produce. I saw good corn, good potatoes, 
good wheat, and the finest apples I ever saw in my 
life. I saw also good stock, cattle, horses, pigs, and 
sheep. I am told your land is also well adapted for 
cotton. The Great Spirit meant your land to be 
cultivated and turned to the best account. I want 
you to encourage your people to enlarge their farms 
and raise more upon them, for thus their prosperity 
and comfort may be greatly increased. While I look 
on this as important, I think it still more important 



212 Memories of Stanley PumpJi7'ey. 

that the minds of your people — your young people 
especially — should be rightly trained. I am glad to 
notice the interest taken by the Indian tribes in ed- 
ucation. At Talequah I saw excellent school build- 
ings, both for boys and girls, equal to what would be 
seen in the United States or in my own countiy. 
The Creeks have well-managed schools, where much 
good is being done. I am glad to hear that you also 
have academies and many district schools. This 
building in which we now are, I understand, used to 
be an academy, but has not been used for that pur- 
pose since the war. It is a better building than any 
occupied by the Creeks, and it seems a great pity it 
should be lying unoccupied. Can you not manage 
again to start the school ? 

'' God, who has given us bodies and minds, has 
also given us souls, and it is His gracious will that 
our souls should be happy with Him for ever. Jesus 
Christ came to open for us the way to heaven, and 
to teach us how to live. There is nothing that would 
give your brothers in England more joy than to hear 
that the Choctaws were a truly Christian nation. I 
want you to encourage your people to keep holy the 
Sabbath day ; to attend public worship ; to avoid 
every kind of sin ; and to follow Jesus faithfully. 
His religion is a religion of love. There ought to be 
no jealousies among the different Indian tribes ; their 
interests are one, and you should live as brethren. 
Your land is as large as England and Scotland to- 
gether, although there are fifty times as many people 
in London alone as there are in the Indian Territory. 
So there is plenty of room for more people, and I 



Indian Territory. 215 

want you to keep this Territory as a home for all the 
Indian tribes. My brothers, I have been glad to 
speak to you, and I bid you farewell.' 

'' At the close of our interview we shook hands 
with the Governor and his Council, and passed down 
one side the room, taking the hand of every Indian 
as we went. Those on the other side did not want 
to be missed, and they all came over in a troop that 
we might take the hand of every one. 

''The experiment made by President Grant of 
committing the care of the Indians to the nominees 
of the religious bodies will always be remembered as 
one of the striking features of his administration. 
It was certainly a remarkable circumstance that one 
who had made so large a figure as a military man 
should have wished, in his dealings with savages, to 
revert to the policy of peace, endeavouring to subdue 
them by kindness and justice rather than by force. 
Friends were the first denomination to be consulted, 
and their share in the work continued to be a prom- 
inent one throughout the eight years of Grant's 
tenure of office. That the plan thus inaugurated 
has, to a great extent, been laid aside by the present 
administration, and Friends, in common with the 
other religious bodies, pretty much ousted from offi- 
cial connection with the work, will not be regarded 
as any proof of failure by those who are acquainted 
with American politics. 

** Statistical returns abundantly demonstrate that 
most encouraging progress was made by the Indians, 
materially, socially, and educationally, under Grant's 
regime. Two Friends are still retained as agents — 



214 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Laban J. Miles, who has charge of the Kiowas and 
Osages, and John D. Miles, the long-tried and very- 
successful Agent of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. 
The schools under these two Friends, as well as one 
in the Quapaw Agency, are still taught by members 
of our society. Work of a directly religious charac- 
ter is being prosecuted more earnestly and effectively 
than ever by Elkanah and Irena Beard among the 
Cheyennes, by Franklyn and Eliza Elliott among the 
absentee Shawnees and Pottowatomies, by Asa and 
Emmeline Tuttle among the Shawnees and the Mo- 
docs, and by Jonathan Ozbun and wife among the 
Osages. 

*'An experience which has ranged over eleven 
years, and which has brought our people in contact 
with about thirty different tribes, in every shade of 
semi-civilization and barbarism, has abundantly il- 
histrated the power of love and justice in influenc- 
ing even the most untutored minds ; and there have 
not been wanting striking illustrations of the Divine 
blessing on the faithful carr^^ing out of these princi- 
ples in times of difficulty and danger. 

" It was after travelling a day's journey from the 
Kiowa Agency, and on ascending into the valley of 
the Washita, that we came in sight of the Agency 
buildings of the Wichita. ' The old Indian huts are 
fast being replaced by log houses. We called on 
Wahloope, a Caddo chief. Five years ago this man 
attended the meeting of the executive committee of 
Friends at Lawrence, Kansas. He said to them, ' I 
have come from a long way off. I came to find a 
good way for my people. We want you to try hard 



Indian Territory. 215 

to help us into the good way. We do not want to do 
like some other tribes, who delight in killing and 
destroying ; we want to learn how to build houses, 
raise corn, and provide for our wives and children 
that they may be happy. I know my young men 
will be ready to do their part in building houses and 
farms and trying to be good. Many of the wild In- 
dians will also visit me to hear my words and see my 
place. . If I have a good house and farm, comfor- 
table clothes, and a happy family, it will have a great 
influence on them to turn them into the white man's 
path of peace and civilization.' He went on to ask 
that they might be protected from white intruders, 
and especially from the curse of whiskey. This 
man's promise has been faithfully kept. Not only 
have about half his people adopted the white man's 
dress and the white man's style of house, but they 
have brought into cultivation 1700 acres of land, 
and are rapidly becoming self-supporting. For a 
considerable period before our visit the issue of ra- 
tions had been confined to beef and salt, and they 
had been grinding corn for the Indians at the 
Agency mill at the rate of eighty bushels a week. 

*'Our meeting for worship with the Wichita on 
the Sabbath day was solemn, and the behaviour and 
attention all we could desire. Round the room the 
Indians stood, sat, and squatted, decked with their 
ornaments, the children with their long black hair, 
well combed, filling the body of the room. Wah- 
loope addressed them, and so did Black Beaver, a 
Delaware chief, who also offered a very feeling 
prayer in his own language. Black Beaver's ser- 



2i6 Memories of Sta7ilcy Pumphrey. 

mon ran in this fashion : — ' Life with us all is getting 
shorter. I remember when the Caddoes had large 
towns and the Delawares and the Wacoes. Now we 
are few. And why is this ? It is for our sins, my^ 
brothers, for our sins. I fear the displeasure of the 
Lord ; but when I see our children well taught, I 
hope again. Let none say it is too late to turn to 
God. Let none say it is too soon.' 

" But perhaps no tribe has made more astonishing 
progress than the Modocs. The war with this tribe, 
and the treacherous assassination of General Canby, 
are still matters of recent history. Their long and 
determined resistance in the lava beds, where they 
hid in the caverns, cost the United States a larger 
number of their troops than there were Indians in 
the tribe ; and Captain Jack and his followers were 
at last wearied out rather than conquered. The 
terrible suffering of those dark days the Modoc 
children even now can hardly be persuaded to refer 
to. Late in 1873 they w^ere removed two thousand 
miles to the Indian Territory, and the remnant of 
the tribe have displayed in peace much of the same 
energy and determination they displayed in war. 
Bogus Charley, the chief, has put up a good-sized 
house for himself, and when it was finished he built 
a still better one for his ponies. Steamboat Frank, 
another prominent member of the tribe, was repair- 
ing his chimney when we called to have an interview 
with such of the tribe as could be collected under 
his roof. They told us they felt like leaving their 
own country in Oregon, near the Pacific coast, but 
they tried not to think of it, and wanted to settle 



Indian Territory. 21/ 

down here. They liked oar talk, and it was their 
wish to live so as to please the Great Spirit. All 
their children are sent to school, where they learn 
readily, are easily satisfied, and give very little 
trouble. 

"I was at the Qiiapaw mission at Christmas, and 
thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Kind friends in New 
York and Baltimore had thought of the Indian chil- 
dren, and wishing to make them happy at this festive 
season, sent them many presents. A fir tree was 
brought from the forest, the top of which touched 
the ceiling, and its branches spread half across the 
room. To this the presents were attached, and the 
tree was lighted up with many tapers. The smaller 
children sat on the floor beneath its boughs, and the 
larger ones round the room. Several of the parents 
and other interested friends were present. They sang 
their simple hymns, and listened attentively while 
we spoke to them. It would have done the hearts 
of the kind donors good to have seen how the littfe 
swarthy faces brightened as the treasures were 
handed down. Several of the older girls had made 
useful presents for each other, and their English 
visitor received a motto beautifully worked by eight 
girls in coloured silks ; the words were, ' In God we 
trust.' They all have jet black hair, and their faces 
are darker than a gypsy's. Their heads are flat be- 
hind, because when they are babies they are strapped 
tight against a board instead of being put in a cradle, 
and then the child hangs up against the wall. When 
their mothers carry them they fasten them to their 
backs, baby's face looking out behind ; the mother's 

lO 



2i8 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

hands are thus at liberty, and she can be doing some- 
thing at the same time. I saw a little girl of seven 
years old washing socks with a baby strapped to her 
back. When Asa and Emmeline Tuttle came here, 
seven years ago, the Ottowaswere in a very degraded 
state, and sadly intemperate ; but through their faith- 
ful labours sobriety has been restored and the church 
revived. One of the Indians who was converted was 
laid aside with severe illness ; his body was racked 
with pain, but his mind was at rest. ' While one 
half of me is suffering very much, the other half is 
very glad,' was his mode of expressing the peace in 
his heart. 

" The wild, warlike tribes in the south-west of the 
Indian Territory, whose raids have long been the 
terror of settlers near the Texas frontier, are becom- 
ing greatly changed. Their subsistence is still in the 
main supplied by Government, and the remainder is 
procured by hunting. Warriors who cared for noth- 
ing but war and the chase, have become men of 
peace. Those who scorned the idea of cultivating 
the soil, are clamouring for ploughs and spades. 
* We like your talk,' said Little Crow, the Comanche 
chief, after our conference with his tribe. ' We want 
to live in peace ; we want to grow corn, raise cattle, 
have our children taught, and take the white man's 
road. This is the mind of us all.' 

*''We are not going to think of war anymore,' 
said Big Mouth, the stalwart chief of the Arapahoes, 
after hugging us in his strong arms. ' The Sioux 
are foolish to think of fighting. Let them come and 
live peaceably in the Indian Territory. I can say of 



Indian Territory. 219 

all here, they are my brothers ; give us ploughs, and 
let us get to work.' " 

Big Horse, the Cheyenne chief, also threw his 
arms around Stanley Pumphrey's neck, and begged 
the Government would send them wagons and imple- 
ments of husbandry. Colonel Misner was admiring a 
medal which had been presented to another chief 
named Whirlwind. *'Yes," replied Whirlwind, "it 
is a nice medal ; but I cannot understand one thing. 
You see it shows on it ploughs, and spades, and hoes, 
and Washington promised to send a heap of them, 
but they have never come, and we think our great 
father ought to keep his word." 

Howling Wolf thus gave his experience : — " I used 
to think sometimes while rambling around, and raid- 
ing with my comrades, that in some things I was 
doing wrong, for I knew a little of God. I did not 
think it wrong to raid and fight — which I now think 
to be wrong — for I was an Indian, and I thought 
and acted as an Indian. I wanted to be leader, and 
went on in sins, for which I was taken prisoner, and 
with others sent to St. Augustine. There I learned 
much more of the Great Spirit. God showed me 
that I had done very wrong, and I wanted to throw 
away all my bad deeds. I asked God to take away 
my bad heart and give me a good heart. He heard 
me, and gave me a good heart, and then I felt 
happy. I threw away my old road, and took the road 
of the Bible, and now I am holding on to that good 
road. Since Voming here I talk to the boys and 
girls and to the people in the camp about God's road. 
It makes me so happy to go in that good road." 



220 Memories of Stanley Ptimphrey. 

At the close of the school session, when the par- 
ents came for their children, the Agent told them 
how thankful he was to be able to restore them all 
in good health. Horse- Back, a Comanche chief, re- 
plied, speaking gratefully of the kind care of the 
children, and also acknowledging his gratitude to 
a higher power. "Are you thinking of the sun?" 
enquired the interpreter. ''No," answered Horse- 
back, " we must look higher than that ; to the Great 
Spirit who made the sun." 

Stanley Pumphrey gives the following record of a 
meeting held by James M. Haworth among these 
wild Indians, who a year or two ago used to run 
away with fright, and tremble w^ith superstitious 
fear, when tlie guidance and blessing of the Great 
Spirit was invoked, but who now bow their heads in 
reverence. " When we drove up to White Wolf's 
camp, last Sabbath, we found the prairie on fire 
and his corral burning. He and several of his peo- 
ple were trying to extinguish the fire, and we got 
down and helped them. After getting the fire out, I 
told White Wolf we had come to have a meeting in 
his camp if he was willing, but I suppose after work- 
ing so hard they would be tired, and we had better 
defer it. * No, no,' he said, 'come now.' They 
soon collected the people, and Ave had a blessed time. 
We spoke of the scene in which wx had just taken 
part ; the heart of man was compared to the corral 
in danger, and sin to the consuming fire. The ap- 
plication was quickly understood. White Wolf 
spoke, with tears in his eyes : ' I did not formerly 
think much about these things, and never have 



Indian Territory. 221 

made such a talk as this before. I have been think- 
ing for some time and asking the Great Spirit to 
guide my mind aright and to give me a good heart. 
I want to travel on the road that will lead to the 
happy home of the Great Spirit, and not go on the 
road that leads to the home of misery of the great 
bad spirit. Every night and morning I ask the Great 
Spirit to have mercy on me and on my people, and 
to show us what He would have us do.' So saying, 
White Wolf threw his arms round James M. Haworth 
and pressed him to his breast. 

''James M. Haworth was appointed, in 1873, ^^ 
the charge of the Kiowas and Comanches, two wdld 
and warlike tribes located near the northern line of 
Texas. To the inhabitants of that large cattle-raising 
State these Indians gave great trouble by their fre- 
quent raids. So irresistible was the temptation to cross 
the border and drive off the cattle that Satanta, one of 
their chiefs, confessed his entire inability to control 
the young men, and told the great father at Washing- 
ton that the readiest way to save trouble would be to 
move Texas farther off. Satanta shortly succumbed 
to the temptation himself, and he and his companion. 
Big Tree, were, for certain depredations and other 
misdeeds, clearly proved against them, sent prisoners 
to Florida. The chiefs were powerful fellows, with 
much natural intelligence, and were popular with their 
tribe, and their release was clamorously demanded of 
the Agent. The Government, wishing to conciliate 
them, gave them to expect that their desire should be 
granted, but difficulties were raised by the authorities 
in Texas, and the chiefs were still held prisoners. 



222 Memories of Stanley Pimiphrey. 

*' While the Kiowas were chafing under the disap- 
pointment, and galled at what seemed to them the 
broken faith of the Government, a report, which was 
wholly unauthorized, was brought to them, that if 
they would go to the Agency at a certain day, Sa- 
tanta would be released. At the given time, almost 
the whole tribe came down, and the hundreds of 
'braves,' mounted on their ponies, with faces paint- 
ed, and decked out with feathers and other savage 
adornments, looked very imposing. The Agent met 
them in a friendly manner, and a Council was ar- 
ranged to be held the next day. Meanwhile, some 
inkling of the actual state of things reached them, 
and they sent to their Council war-chiefs only, who 
came fully armed, and sat with their bows strung 
and their arrows in their hands. 

" It was a serious thing to have to meet such a 
company with intelligence that would exasperate 
them ; but James M. Haworth made his statement 
with a straightforwardness that convinced them that 
he, at least, was not to blame ; and Big-Bow, the 
leader, advancing, embraced him and gave his hand, 
saying that while they had been deceived and were 
disappointed, they believed the Agent's heart was 
right, and warm, and true. The others then came 
forward and gave their hands, and so the Council 
closed. The Kiowas now went up to the neighbour- 
ing military post, and while there met with some 
mischievous person who told them that Haworth was 
trifling with and deceiving them, and showed them, 
in proof, an extract from a Texas paper, in which it 
was asserted that the chiefs would never be released 



Indian Territory. 223 

except on certain conditions, which were named, and 
which the Indians knew would be out of their power 
to ratify. This exasperated them exceedingly, and 
they returned to the Agent in a rage. He found it 
hard to quiet them, and the next day, when the usual 
rations were being distributed, they again became 
fierce, and made demands which his duty as a United 
States officer forbade him to comply with. 

" Upon this they grew so clamorous and threaten- 
ing that the employes, believing that mischief was 
intended, begged him to send to the fort for a de- 
tachment of troops. This, however, James M. Ha- 
worth refused to do : he was among the Indians 
specially to represent the principles of peace, and 
to those principles he determined that he would be 
true, and would commit his life to the protection of 
the Lord. He still steadily refused the demands of 
the Indians, and, abashed by his courage or restrained 
by a higher power, they became quieter, and shortly 
withdrew. That it was no imaginary danger in 
which he had been placed was shown by the fact 
that an old Comanche chief, who was friendly to 
him, went of his own accord to the fort to beg the 
officer to come down with soldiers to protect him. 

'* A few days after, information reached James M. 
Haworth that the Kiowas had held a Council and 
decided to take him prisoner and keep him as a host- 
age for the return of their chiefs. He was now again 
urged to seek the protection of the fort, but refused, 
and waited the issue. The next evening White Horse 
and Fast Wolf, two of the worst of the Indians, with 
three others, made their appearance at the Agency, 



224 Memories of Stanley Pmnphrey. 

armed, and with other indications suggestive of evil 
intent. James M. Haworth, however, met them 
cordially, gave them a good supper, had his usual 
family worship along with them, and prepared them 
beds for the night, not giving them the smallest in- 
dication that he knew the object of their visit. They 
returned in the morning, after receiving other kind- 
nesses, and reported to their people, in Indian /^r- 
lance^ that ' Simpoquodle's * medicine was too strong 
for them.' 

" * My heart is humbled with gratitude and thanks- 
giving to God,' writes James M. Haworth, 'when I 
review the many trying scenes through which I was 
safely covered by the shadow of His wings. He did 
so mercifully care for me and the dear ones associ- 
ated with me in that work. His love and protecting 
care were ever near us, and underneath were the 
Everlasting Arms.' 

" The Kiowas and Apaches have interesting tra- 
ditions respecting the creation and deluge. They 
worship a Spirit whom they call the Great Kiowa, 
whose visible manifestation is in the Pleiades. He 
made the world, then he put animals upon it, and 
lastly man. He struck a tree, and men and women 
came out. They were not rightly formed, so he 
struck it again, and others came out who were right. 
Men displeased the. Great Kiowa, and he over- 
whelmed them with a flood of water. One man was 
saved. He looked very lonely, so the Kiowa took 
compassion upon him, cut him in two, and of the 

* This was their name for James M. Haworth ; it signifies Red 
Beard. 



Indian Territory. 225 

halves made man and woman. They believe in 
future rewards and punishments, but their heaven 
has little of a spiritual character. The earth is their 
mother, and when the last Kiowa is gone, it will 
burn up with grief. The Indians under the care of 
the Agency at Fort Sill are three of the wildest tribes, 
the Kiowas, the Comanches, and the Apaches. The 
Indians say, ' Fort Sill is bad medicine for us.' We 
spent an afternoon and evening at the school, where 
about seventy children are boarded and taught, 
under the care of an English Friend, Alfred Stand- 
ing, and his wife. 

*' After our return we started in another direction, 
to visit the camp of E-sa-bo-cum, a Kiowa chief. We 
found the tents pitched by a wood-skirted stream, 
with a meadow-like portion of prairie in the front 
where their horses could range and graze. There 
were about a dozen wigwams. The framework is 
formed of poles, meeting at the top and bound to- 
gether at the top with thongs of hide. Over these 
are thrown buffalo skins sewn together. An opening 
at the top lets out the smoke ; a hole in the skin 
covered by a loose flap lets in the occupants. You 
enter without giving any alarm, offer your hand and 
say ' How do ? ' which they answer, * How, how,' that 
being as far as they have learned the sentence. The . 
little children alone manifest any uneasiness at the 
approach of the white stranger, and hide behind their 
mothers. The youngest * papoose ' is strapped to a 
flat board to be carried on the mother's back. There 
is a fire on the floor in the centre, and while you sit 
you are out of the way of the smoke, and feel warm 
10* 



226 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

and comfortable. The mattresses are round, smooth 
sticks, fastened together with thongs, over which the 
buffalo robe is thrown. I have tried many a more 
uneasy resting-place. A large proportion of the tribe 
have sixty days' leave of absence, and are therefore 
gone to hunt the buffalo. Their Government rations 
consist of i^ pounds of beef per day for each man, 
woman, and child ; \ pound of flour ; and with every 
150 pounds of beef they receive 8 pounds of sugar, 5 
of salt and soap, 4 pounds of coffee, and 2\ of to- 
bacco and soda. The allowance of meat is purposely 
large, in consideration of their previous mode of life, 
Much suffering has been repeatedly caused to these 
wards of the Government, who have been driven from 
their original lands, by the irregular supply of their 
food. 

** The tribes have different languages ; though 
some, like the Choctaws and Chickasaws, are so 
closely allied that they can understand each other. 
They have, however, all of them a common language 
of signs by which they communicate, and they may 
sometimes be seen talking to each other with their 
hands by the hour at a time. The Cheyennes make 
great use of this sign language, even when they are 
speaking, and it was very intersting to watch the an- 
imated gestures of Big Mouth while holding forth. 
Our young interpreter, after officiating for us for an 
hour, complained that his arms were Very tired. 

*' On leaving the Cheyennes we were obliged to 
camp out, as we had a journey of eighty miles 
through the prairie and across the north fork of the 
Canadian River. Amos, a coloured man, was our 



Indian Territory, . 22/ 

guide. We found a level place, sheltered with trees, 
and here a fire was soon lit. Amos boiled our coffee, 
and we were soon enjoying our supper. We sat and 
talked for a couple of hours, our guide telling stories 
about the animals of the district. I repeated the 
34th Psalm and Addison's Traveller's Hymn. Then 
we spread our buffalo robes and blankets, rolled up 
our overcoats as pillows, and laid down to rest. I 
slept well until after one o'clock, roused to find our 
fire burning low, and got up to gather fresh wood 
and logs. The flames soon rose up and lighted our 
camp, and showed where my companions were sleep- 
ing peacefully. Amos had placed himself within a 
foot of the fire, and I had to take care that the stray- 
ing embers did not burn his blanket. He appreci- 
ated my attention, showed his dusky face from be- 
hind the folds of his blanket, observed ' I call this 
real splendid,' and went off to sleep again. 

" The moon had now risen, and lighted up the 
river as it curved away beneath the trees. As I lay 
down again, the Pleiades were right overhead. I 
thought how the old natives of the land had revered 
them as their God, and how true were the words 
spoken lately by one of them, ' We must look higher.* 
I thought too of Jacob — 

*' As he from Esau fled 
To Padanaram, in the fields of Luz ; 
Dreaming by night under the open sky, 
And waking cried, ' This is the gate of heaven.* 

'■'■ I remembered that the God of Jacob was my 
God, and I believed the promise made to the Patri- 



228 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

arch had been mercifully renewed to me : ' I will be 
with thee and will keep thee in all places whither 
thou goest, and will bring thee again to thine own 
land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that 
which I have spoken to thee of.' " 

At the Pottawatomie Agency, which Stanley Pum- 
phrey afterwards visited, he says:- "The Indians 
took a fancy to me, and wanted to know if I could 
stay with them always. Their chief said my words 
would be ' repeated to every member of the tribe and 
be handed down for a hundred years.' He gave me 
a war club and a handsome piece of bead-work in 
token of his goodwill. 

'' When we had crossed to Kansas, the marks of 
civilization multiplied. Things often look larger in 
the mist and fairer in the gloaming, but as I saw the 
road fenced on either hand, crossed a bridge, instead 
of being paddled across a river in the scooped trunk 
of a tree, passed a well-tended flock of sheep, and 
saw houses with lights in their windows, I seemed to 
catch glimpses again of domestic comfort, and I saw 
that a cultured country excels a wilderness as light 
excels darkness. 

" Our trip in the Indian Territory was over. The 
Lord had enabled us to scatter much seed among its 
many tribes. He had kept us safe in all our wxary 
journey. These Indians are like children growing 
up, and they need kind, wise, firm, and energetic 
care for years to come. With such care, what has 
been accomplished for the Cherokees and Creeks 
may also be accomplished for them all, and the terri- 
tory be occupied as an Indian confederation, all 



Indian Territory, 229 

speaking the same language and enjoying the bless- 
ings of Christianity and civilization under a united 
Government. 

" Two hundred years ago, within the bounds of 
the city of Philadelphia, occurred a scene to which 
the poet and the painter, the statesman and historian, 
have alike delighted to do honour. Beneath the elm 
tree of Shackamaxon, William Penn enunciated those 
pure and holy principles which he had learned from 
the Sermon on the Mount. Having faith in the uni- 
versal applicability of these principles, he tried ' the 
holy experiment ' of putting them in practice towards 
the white man and the red man alike. 'We meet,' 
he said, ' on the broad pathway of faith and goodwill, 
where no advantage is to be taken on either side, but 
all is to be openness, brotherhood, and love.' 

" The treaty that was there signed was kept. ' The 
only treaty,' Voltaire said, ' made without an oath, 
and the only one that was never broken.' Bancroft 
has done justice to our relations with the Indian 
tribes, and records that no drop of Quaker blood 
was ever shed by them. They still look on us as 
their friends. A Quaker is received by them with 
confidence because he is a Quaker. 'The Quakers 
are our friends,' said Black Beaver, of the Delawares, 
in 1872. ' Their fathers and ours bound themselves 
to be friends for ever. Their treaty was never broken. 
The Indians have never taken any Quaker's blood, 
and the Quakers have always been true friends to the 
Indians. Our grandfather at Washington knew this, 
and for this reason has sent them among us. He knew 
that they would do right by his red grandchildren.' 



230 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

A prominent share in the care of the Indians has 
been assigned to us. It is a great trust. The Chief 
Clerk of Indian affairs bears testimony that we ac- 
cept it ' as a great trust,' and I am thankful to know 
that the encomium is merited. We cannot be too 
earnest in the right use of means. The old maxim, 
* civilize first, then try to Christianize,' must be 
thrown away, and w^e must accept the axiom that 
' Christianity is at once the shortest road to civili- 
zation, and the best security for its maintenance.* 
We cannot be too careful in our choice of men. To 
quote the words of my friend Joel Bean, when writ- 
ing on this subject, * our eye must be kept single, 
our object pure, and our trust fixed upon the Lord. 
We need divine counsel to direct ; and men that can 
stand like flint against temptation, men of clean 
hands and pure heart, to represent a holy cause 
among a benighted people. ' " 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

IOWA. 

Very wisely Stanley Pumphrey concluded to come 
home for a short change and comparative rest in the 
midst of his American labours. He had been work- 
ing persistently for many months, and the continual 
exercise of mind in attending so many meetings and 
visiting so many scenes made a pause essential. He 
arrived in England the middle of May, 1877. He 
was evidently worn with all he had undergone, and 
hastened to those he loved at Worcester. Attending 
the usual week-day morning meeting there, he took 
for his text the query of the Lord Jesus Christ to 
His disciples when they returned to Him after their 
first great missionary journey, " Lacked ye any- 
thing ? " and with tears in his eyes and his voice 
quivering with emotion-, he joyfully gave his own 
experience in the answer, *' Nothing, Lord." He re- 
viewed some of his American experiences, the oc- 
casional want of sympathy, the much more frequent 
welcome that had so cordially been given him, the 
rough life in the Indian Territory, the vicissitudes of 
climate and of travel, and yet most emphatically 
true was it that through all he had lacked nothing. 
*' It always is and always will be true," he exclaimed, 



232 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

"that when the Lord sends forth His servants He 
will abundantly supply all their need." 

From Worcester Stanley Pumphrey proceeded to 
meet his beloved friend Sarah Grubb, to whom he 
was betrothed, and thence proceeded to the Yearly 
Meeting of Friends in London. 

At the Yearly Meeting he interested himself very- 
much in pleading for Friends in North Carolina and 
Tennessee, and a subscription was set on foot to as- 
sist in the schools and mission work in those States 
and in the repair of the dilapidated Meeting Houses. 
He also gave an outline of his visit to the Indian 
Territory, and some account of the lectures on 
Friends' principles which he had given in various 
parts of America. At the conclusion of the Yearly 
Meeting he gave a vigorous address on the temper- 
ance question, showing how much ahead of England 
America was at that time, in energetic effort to re- 
strain the sale of intoxicating liquors and to dis- 
countenance the use of stimulants among the mem- 
bers of Christian churches. 

After Yearly Meeting, he paid rapid visits in Suf- 
folk, Kent, Yorkshire, and Oxfordshire, and attended 
the Western Quarterly Meeting of the Society of 
Friends at Cirencester. Well pleased to be again 
among so many old acquaintances, he was actively 
engaged in witnessing for Christ, and it was evident 
to his friends that his gift in the ministry of the 
Gospel had enlarged with use. 

At Cirencester and two or three other places he 
gave a lecture on the North American Indians, and 
then again repaired to Sudbury, in Suffolk, where he 



Iowa. 233 

was married to Sarah, the eldest daughter of Jonathan 
Grubb, on the 17th of July. Their wedding tour was 
in Cornwall, among scenes of natural beauty that 
Stanley had enjoyed years before ; and on the 15th 
of August he sailed again for America, with his be- 
loved wife. 

The final leave-taking at Worcester was a sorrowful 
one. His much loved sister, Helen, was evidently 
sinking in consumption, and there was no human 
probability of his ever seeing her again on earth. 
The family and relatives gathered for prayer in the 
drawing-room at his own house at 41, Britannia- 
square. He commended all he was leaving to the 
protecting care of God ; and his invalid sister also 
offered one of those near-heaven prayers that mark 
close communion with our Father in heaven. With 
tears they bid each other farewell in the Lord, the 
sister so soon to be called up higher, the brother 
turning his face steadfastly to the work to which the 
Lord was calling him in Iowa. 

The Friends of Iowa Yearly Meeting are chiefly to 
be found in the southern half of the State, though 
there is one Quarterly Meeting in the north-east 
corner, and another small one in Minnesota. '' There 
is no State in which I travelled," Stanley Pumphrey 
observes, "that impressed me as more strikingly il- 
lustrating the rapid development of America than 
the State of Iowa. Forty years ago it was all but 
unbroken prairie ; now it has large cities, many rail- 
roads, universities, and other public institutions, and 
something like a million and a half of people. Of 
course a prairie country has facilities for rapid de- 



234 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

velopment such as are not enjoyed by a forest 
country, where there is so much to clear out of the 
way." 

The Friends' Yearly Meeting for the State of Iowa 
commenced on the 5th September, 1877. The house 
in which it was held is a large two-storied brick 
building, standing in a grove about a mile from Os- 
kaloosa. The upstairs room is occupied by the wo- 
men, the downstairs room by the men. Each room 
seats comfortably about a thousand persons. A 
meeting for worship was held at the commence- 
ment, in which the Friends from England were en- 
gaged in ministry, Walter Robson, Helen Balkwill, 
and Susan Doyle being also present from this side 
the Atlantic. A warm welcome was given to the 
visitors, Joel Bean acting as clerk. The reports that 
came up from the subordinate meetings were not al- 
together satisfactory. There was evident disunity in 
some districts ; and amid the pressure of the times 
there appeared to be laxity in too many families in 
regard to family worship. The Yearly Meeting sent 
down urgent advice on this head, reiterating the 
well-known testimony of the Society on the subject. 
*' We esteem it a duty incumbent on us to pray with 
and for, to teach, instruct, and admonish those in 
and belonging to our families, this being a command 
of the Lord." On the other hand, much earnest life 
was manifested in many meetings, and many of the 
young people had lately given themselves to the 
Lord and were devoting themselves to His service. 
The membership within the compas of Iowa Yearly 
Meeting was 8146, and of this number only six mem- 



Iowa. 235 

bers were reported as having used intoxicating drinks, 
and the number addicted to the use of tobacco was 
on the decline. A coloured brother, Horatio Nelson 
Rankin, the director of the West Tennessee Univers- 
ity at Memphis, pleaded for the education of the 
Freedmen ; and John Frederick Hansen and Stanley 
Pumphrey advocated the foreign missionary work, 
the fulfilment of the loving charge of the Saviour to 
preach the Gospel to every creature. One of the 
most stirring sittings of the Yearly Meeting was on 
higher education. One minister referred in touch- 
ing language to his own scanty education and to his 
sense of the continual disadvantage under which he 
laboured in consequence. He felt that his usefulness 
might have been so much greater if he had received 
a better education ; and the work of the Lord de- 
manded the exercise of all our powers at their best. 
God can and does make use of an ignorant man who 
consecrates himself to His service ; but consecrated 
intelligence is much better, and in these days of ad- 
vanced education has become essential. 

The Yearly Meeting concluded with a time of 
special blessing. The grey-headed fathers of the 
church had laboured together with the sons in loving 
fellowship, and parted from one another trusting 
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ they 
were entering upon a year of better and more fruit- 
ful service. 

Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey afterwards visited a 
few places in Minnesota. The Friends of Howard 
Lake, not getting more than two or three visits a 
year, appreciate the company of strangers all the 



236 Memories of Stanley Ptimphrey. 

more. The evening meetings were consequently- 
crowded with an attentive and appreciative audience. 
Winneshiek i§ another remote Quarterly Meeting 
which Stanley visited alone. The road was very- 
rough where it was stony, and in other places miry 
in the extreme. The driving resembled that of the 
son of Nimshi, and both driver and visitor were tre- 
mendously bespattered with mud before they reached 
their destination. The wheat crop in these parts 
was almost a complete failure that year, so that 
nearly half of it was not cut, but simply burnt off the 
ground. Of course this caused much depression 
among the people, and to many it was ruinous. 

In Bangor Quarterly Meeting there were eighteen 
recorded ministers, several of them being young men 
in their prime, whose discourses were probably 
lengthy. On arriving at one of their meetings, 
Stanley Pumphrey found the following message 
chalked on the black-board which was used in the 
Sabbath school : — 

" Ministers please notice, 
We, us, and Co., and others say, 
Have your sermons short and sweet next time ; 
Don't swing on so long ; 
We get tired ; 
Don't forget it." 

Thence Stanley went over to Stavangar, which is 
the principal settlement of Norwegian Friends in 
America ; indeed there are more friends here now 
than at the original Stavangar. They occupy a tract 
of country about six miles long and two wide, and 



Iowa. 237 

most of them live on their own farms. They are 
well-to-do and industrious, and stand well among 
their neighbours. Long before the meeting they 
began to come, and by ten o'clock the house was 
filled. Sarah B. Satterthwaite of Allonby, and Mary 
White of Glasgow were also present and took part. 
" There was a very blessed sense of God's presence, 
and I knelt down in thanksgiving and prayer. Then 
I rose to speak, and Soren Olesen stood up beside 
me to translate into Norwegian. M}^ heart was so 
full, I found it quite difficult to speak, but Soren 
translated for me well. He did not like to have more 
than about ten words given him at once. We had 
two or three addresses from Norway Friends, and 
Andrew Olesen knelt in prayer. At the close they 
all gathered round to shake hands, and many made 
enquiries in their broken English about Friends they 
had known." 

On Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey's second visit to 
Iowa, in 1878, they also attended the Yearly Meeting 
at Oskaloosa. At that time they were rejoiced to 
meet their English friends, J. B. Braithwaite and 
Richard Littleboy, Joseph J. Dymond and George 
Tatham. The sittings opened with large meetings 
for worship. John Scott of Baltimore, who was just 
returning from a visit to Oregon and California, 
commenced the meeting with prayer, and then 
Joseph J. Dymond spoke on the words of our 
Saviour's prayer, ''That they all may be one," dwell- 
ing on the blessing of Christian union and its hind- 
rances. Stanley Pumphrey followed, taking for his 
text, "Be always ready." "Be always ready for 



238 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

death ; see wherein this readiness consists. Be 
always ready to give an answer concerning the hope 
that is in you. If we have the true hope, we shall 
not be ashamed to confess it, and shall confess it 
with meekness and with the deep feeling that there 
is no room for boasting, because it is all of grace. 
Be always ready for service. Remember the Bible 
curse on those Avho do the work of the Lord negli- 
gently. Hezekiah charged the priests and the 
Levites to be ready, saying, ' My sons, be not now 
negligent, for the Lord hath chosen you to stand be- 
fore Him, to serve Him, and that ye should minister 
unto Him.' Christ says, ' That servant which knew 
his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did 
according to his will, shall be beaten with many 
stripes,' and even Artaxerxes exclaims, 'Whatsoever 
is commanded by the God of heaven let it be dili- 
gently done.' " 

A proposition was brought before the Yearly Meet- 
ing from one of the Quarterly Meetings, ''for the 
establishment of a Ministers' Fund, out of which 
such might be assisted as are called to give their 
whole time to the work of the Lord." 

In the meeting of ministers and elders Stanley 
Pumphrey gave an address on the exhortation, 
" Speak thou the things that become sound 
doctrine." " Those who have read the Epistles of 
Paul to Timothy and Titus cannot fail to have been 
struck with the stress he lays on the importance of 
maintaining sound doctrine. And those who have 
noticed how close is the connection between men's 
belief and their actions, will see how reasonable it is 



Iowa, 239 

that this stress should be laid on sound doctrine. If 
we would preach sound doctrine we must diligently 
search the treasury of Holy Scripture, wherein we 
have the written record of the will of God. All 
doctrine contrary to the teaching of Scripture is 
to be unhesitatingly rejected. In the Old Testament 
we have a record attested by the authority of Christ ; 
in the New Testament we find the very words of our 
Lord and Saviour and the words of the Apostles 
written by the inspiration of His Spirit. It should 
be the aim of the Christian minister to present the 
truth as they presented it, the truth as it is in Jesus, 
in its completeness and harmony. In doing this we 
shall, after their example, lay the greatest stress on 
the most important truths. We shall lay the founda- 
tion of repentance and faith in our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. We shall teach that except a man be 
born again through the agency of the Divine Spirit, 
and his soul cleansed from sin, he cannot see the 
Kingdom of God. We shall teach that this cleansing 
comes through faith in the Son of God, who became 
man, and died on the cross for men, shedding His 
precious blood there for the remission of our sins. 
We shall teach that He rose again, and ever liveth 
our glorified Mediator, High Priest, and King. We 
shall also teach the necessity for receiving the Holy 
Spirit and for sanctification. We shall teach that 
sanctification means holiness of life, and, after the 
example of Paul, w^e shall enforce whatever things 
are true and pure, just and honest, lovely and of 
good report. We shall draw a clear distinction be- 
tween w^hat is of primary and what of subordinate 



240 Memories of Stanley Puntphrey. 

importance ; between those things which are matters 
of human opinion and those which rest on the clear 
declaration of our Lord. We shall be careful not 
hastily to take up novelties of doctrine, and never 
to dogmatize where our opinions do not rest on solid 
grounds. Perhaps an illustration may be permitted 
here. A subject that has claimed much attention in 
this Yearly Meeting is the doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion. Of the importance of that doctrine there can 
be no question. It was a cardinal feature in Apos- 
tolic teaching. They taught that the dead shall rise ; 
that all shall stand before the judgment-seat of 
Christ, and shall then receive the things done in the 
body ; the wicked going away into everlasting pun- 
ishment, the righteous into life eternal. These 
things have not always been clearly apprehended, 
and in zeal against some who seemed to think we 
should not retain our personality in the other world, 
some have gone so far in a material direction that 
they have seemed to deny the Scriptural statements 
that we shall all be changed ; that this corruptible 
shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put 
on immortality ; that this natural body shall become 
a spiritual body and this body of our humiliation be 
fashioned like unto the body of His glory. And 
these teachers have been impatient of those who 
could not accept their way of stating the doctrine, 
and have unjustly accused them of denying the resur- 
rection altogether. 

''As we should be careful with regard to introduc- 
ing novelties of doctrine, so also we should be care- 
ful in introducing novelties of practice. In these 



Iowa. 241 

matters a tender regard should be paid to one an- 
other's judgment. We ought not roughly to over- 
ride the convictions of others, and should be very- 
careful not to adopt the proud assumption that we 
know infallibly the mind of the Holy Spirit. His 
will is manifested to our brethren as well as to us ; 
and we shall find that there is wisdom and peace in 
obeying the inspired precept, 'All of you be subject 
one to another, and be clothed with humility.' Thus 
will be promoted that unity of spirit and of action 
for which the Yearly Meeting is solicitous." 

Ere the Yearly Meeting closed John Frederick 
Hansen was liberated to work in Norway, Denmark, 
and Sweden, with other service. 

Near Bloomfield, Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey 
called on Charles Williams, whose house lies up a 
shelving bank. On getting into the conveyance it 
overbalanced in returning down this bank ; the roof of 
the conveyance was broken to shivers, and the occu- 
pants and seats precipitated into the road. The horses 
got ofE with the main body of the wagon, and when 
Stanley regained his feet, the wagon was lying bottom 
upwards a hundred yards off, and the horses with the 
broken pole were galloping up the next hill. A few 
bruises and a thorough shaking of the nerves seemed 
to be all the personal injury sustained, and, thankful 
for their preservation, they proceeded on their way. 

In passing from Iowa amid many loving leave-tak- 
ings, he felt that while the condition of the Society 
there was not altogether satisfactory, there were a 
good proportion of excellent people and some prom- 
ising young ministers among them. 
II 



CHAPTER XIX. 



INDIANA. 



" Indiana is the largest Yearly Meeting of Friends 
in the world, having nearly 18,000 members, distri- 
buted over the eastern half of the State of Indiana 
and the western third of the State of Ohio. What 
impressed me in Indiana Yearly Meeting was the 
number of interests it considers of a missionary and 
philanthropic character, and the' energy with which 
they are handled ; and especially its evangelising 
power, arising from the large number of gifted men 
and women in the prime of life who for many years 
have given their time mainly to the work of the min- 
istry. The way in which many of these evangelists 
work, is, I think, better adapted for building up the 
churches than the old plan of going hastily from 
place to place ; for, however refreshing and helpful 
such visits may be, and however right it may be for 
some to give themselves to service just of this char- 
acter, more than this is often needed. Many of our 
ministering Friends in America remain two or three 
weeks in one place, holding meetings morning and 
evening from day to day. The situation of the peo- 
ple in an agricultural community during the winter 
months favours this mode of working : it is not diflS- 
cult for them then to release themselves from other 



Indiana, 243 

engagements to attend such meetings ; and they do 
it gladly. I do not say that all I have seen done in 
connection with these meetings has been done just 
in the way! should have thought best ; but I gladly 
bear my testimony to the great blessing that has very 
often attended them, and the solid lasting good that 
has resulted from them. As regards what we may 
not be quite prepared to unite with, the spirit indi- 
cated by the words of good old Nathan Douglas ap- 
pears to be the right one, when he says : ' I cannot 
work like this dear Friend : but he is doing the Lord's 
work ; he is my brother, and I love him.' If a spirit 
like this had always been manifested on the one side, 
and a little more forbearance, patience, and yielding 
on the other, much diflticulty might have been avoided. 
One result of the successive meetings I have alluded 
to, has been large accessions to the membership of 
the Society of Friends in many places. Many in con- 
nection with these meetings have been awakened to 
a concern about their souls. They have had no pre- 
vious connection with any Christian church, and the 
ministers have wisely encouraged them to join some 
church. They have been asked what society they 
would prefer, and have often very naturally elected 
to unite themselves with the denomination through 
whose instrumentality they have been helped ; and 
thus it has happened that twenty, thirty, fifty, and 
even larger numbers of names have been handed in 
at once to the overseers as applicants for member- 
ship. These new converts may often have been 
taken in too hastily without receiving the amount 
of care and teaching that was really due to them ; 



244 Memories of Staiiley PumpJirey. 

on the other hand, in very many instances, those 
thus received have proved solid and serviceable 
members. • 

'* Our own line of service, in this as in other Yearly 
Meetings, lay largely in the attendance of Quarterly 
Meetings. These are generally arranged one week 
apart, for the convenience of travelling ministers. 
The Meeting Houses are usually built of wood, and 
are very wide in proportion to their depth, so that 
when the sliding shutters are drawn down betw^een 
men and women's side of the house, they form two 
square apartments. The number of seats facing the 
meeting strike an English eye as out of proportion 
to the size of the congregation, and in the more 
modern houses this arrangement is being modified. 
The Meeting House commonly stands in a large en- 
closure, with sheds and hitching-posts for the horses. 
Often the whole available space is occupied, and it 
is not an unusual thing to see the road also for a con- 
siderable distance lined with vehicles. The meet- 
ings for worship are often long, and in the business 
meetings important subjects sometimes require a. 
little more careful discussion, but I enjoyed the rapid 
way in which the judgment of a meeting was often 
arrived at after two or three Friends had spoken, by 
a number of Friends following one another with such 
brief expressions as ' That's my mind ! ' M unite with 
Simeon ! ' and 'So do I ! ' There is also something 
we may learn in England from the w^iy in which the 
women Friends take an equal share with the men in 
the deliberations. 

** The meetings on the succeeding Sabbath are re- 



Indiana. 245 

garded as a part of the Quarterly Meeting, They 
are great occasions, and often attended by the whole 
population round. I always felt the responsibility of 
them, and very generally enjoyed much freedom in 
the work of the ministry. On these occasions I 
usually gave my expositions of the distinguishing 
principles of Friends, endeavouring to show their 
harmony with Scripture teaching. Notice that such 
an opportunity would be afforded had usually been 
given the day before, and Friends were invited to 
bring their * basket dinners ' along with them. At 
the close of the meeting for worship, the house would 
be turned into one large refection room, and groups 
would be seen all over enjoying the fried chicken, 
pumpkin, pie, and various other delicacies, which 
American housekeepers so well understand. If there 
were no knives and forks, and if one bucket of water 
and dipper served for the wants of many, what did 
it matter ? 

'' My lecture occupied about two hours, and it was 
an effort to speak thus in a large house, with fre- 
quent interruptions from crying babies. 

" There are many districts in the limits of Indiana 
Yearly Meeting in which Friends form quite an im- 
portant element in the population. In Clinton 
County, Ohio, from which Robert Walter Douglas 
and John Henry Douglas come, out of a population 
of 24,000, there are about 4000 Friends ; in Wayne 
County, Indiana, there must be over 3000. A Friend 
living a few miles north of Richmond told me he 
could take his choice of thirty meetings, to any of 
which he could ride on First-day morning ; and 



246 Memories of Stanley Puniphrey. 

round about Spiceland, New Garden, and Walnut 
Ridge, the people are chiefly Friends. I was par- 
ticularly interested in the last-named district, a purely 
agricultural one, where not less than a thousand 
members are found in a radius of about six miles. 
It is a neighbourhood in which, a few years ago, 
there had been a good deal of excitement, and some 
extravagances. We rejoiced in the evidence we saw 
that Friends had seen their mistake in some of these 
respects, and they appeared to be in as sober and 
healthy a condition as almost any we visited. This 
arose to a great extent from the leading Friends not 
throwing themselves out of sympathy with a genuine 
religious movement because of its exuberances, but 
being ready to recognise that in it which was of the 
Lord." 

One of the subjects that came prominently before 
Indiana Yearly Meeting was, the necessary provision 
for the support of the ministry. Robert Douglas, 
and his brother John Henry Douglas, and Mary 
Rogers pressed home this important question on the 
attention of Friends. 

*' There are now in Indiana a considerable number 
of ministers without, or almost without, any regular 
means of livelihood. The work of the church has 
pressed upon them more and more, and they have 
been so much withdrawn from their usual occupa- 
tions that they can no longer pursue them with the 
regularity that is essential to success. These evan- 
gelists have gone into districts where there has been 
little or no previous provision for public worship, 
and an interest in religion has been stirred up through 



Lidiana. 247 

a succession of gospel meetings being held ; and the 
people thus impressed need regularly looking after, 
or the good effect may very much evaporate. Thus 
in some places there is the need for a settled pastor- 
ate to follow up the work of the evangelist ; and 
there is plenty of constant religious work for a pas- 
tor. The position many leading Friends in Indiana 
take on this question is that while none should 
preach for money, none should be hindered from 
preaching for want of it. That some men should be 
entirely set apart for the work of the ministry is, I 
think, clearly right. The danger is that others, the 
proof of whose apostleship is by no means so evi- 
dent, will claim that they ought also to be similarly 
supported, who would do better service if they gave 
half or two-thirds of their time to the plough." 

Many of the intervals between the larger meetings 
were employed by Stanley Pumphrey in visiting the 
country Monthly Meetings. He says : — 

"We have attended five of these during the last 
eight days. Ministers are plentiful hereaway, and 
we have heard ^ great many ministers' certificates 
for travel granted and returned. The Friends here 
do not waste time over either. The reports of the 
journeys are given with great brevity, and the meet- 
ing expresses itself satisfied. Requests for certifi- 
cates to travel are stated with still greater brevity, 
and Friends respond, ' I am free that John should 
go,' or ' I have unity with Benjamin,' and then others 
answer 'So do I,' 'So am I,' 'I unite,' &c. An im- 
portant proposal of this description was thus disposed 
of this week in a minute and a half." 



248 Memories of Staiiley PjunpJirey. 

Later on, visits were paid to Fairfield Quarterly- 
Meeting, an agricultural district, in which there are 
more than 2500 Friends within a radius of a few 
miles. 

At the Monthly Meetings of ministers and elders 
in these parts Stanley Pumphrey occasionally gave 
very useful Bible lessons. At Martinsville the Bible 
lesson was on the twentieth chapter of Acts, and at 
the following Quarterly Meeting of ministers and 
elders he gave a Bible lesson from i Timothy, 3rd 
chapter. These lessons were much appreciated, and 
helped to encourage ministers in systematic Bible 
study. 

" Our visit to Spiceland," he says, "was a time of 
much interest. It is one of the most important 
meetings in America. The place itself is only a 
small scattered village, but the farms for miles round 
are chiefly occupied by Friends, and they have a 
membership of 600. In addition to this, there is an 
Academy under the charge of Friends, and a large 
proportion of the 200 students attend the meeting, so 
that there are often 500 people present on First-day 
morning. They have fourteen ministers, and often 
receive visits from those from other places. They 
need, however, a good teaching ministry. People may 
be very useful and successful as evangelists, and may 
be listened to with interest in places to which they 
go as strangers, but it requires other qualifications 
constantly to minister instructively to the same con- 
gregation." 

Stanley Pumphrey spent a week in Cincinnati 
which he called "the idlest week he had in Amer- 



Indiana, 249 

ica." '' I went there to rest, and did it. It was a 
great treat to be in a house surrounded by all the 
comforts of an English home. My dear friends 
Murray and Catharine Shipley did all for me that 
kindness could suggest, and their society and that of 
their children was truly congenial. The city is finely 
situated, with large buildings and mercantile blocks, 
and huge hotels. The Ohio is a fine river, and is 
spanned by two noble bridges. A large proportion 
of the inhabitants are Germans. The Friends' Meet- 
ing House is a substantial building, well fitted up. 
Following the example of George Fox at Swarth- 
more, they have placed a Bible on a stand in the 
middle of the gallery. This arrangement is now 
common in the West. There was a precious sense 
of communion and true worship in the meeting. I 
spoke from the words, 'Not I, but Christ,' tracing 
the connection in which they stand both as to justi- 
fication and sanctification." 

As the conclusion of Stanley Pumphrey's service 
in Indiana approached, he again attended the Yearly 
Meeting at Richmond. During these final visits to 
the Yearly Meetings, he laid before Friends a subject 
which had taken a firm hold on his own mind, as to 
the duty of the Church to engage with more energy 
in Foreign Mission work, in fulfilment of the great 
commission of Christ to His people, "Go ye into all 
the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 

The proposal he threw before the American Yearly 
Meetings was to the effect that a Central Missionary 
Board should be formed, consisting of delegates 
from all the contributing Yearly Meetings in the 



250 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

United States. Charles F. Coffin, clerk of Indiana 
Yearly Meeting, kindly made way for the matter to 
be brought forward, and Stanley delivered his mis- 
sionary appeal to both men and women Friends. 
The Friends of Indiana were deeply impressed with 
the importance of the subject, and gave it their candid 
deliberation. They finallv appointed five delegates, 
with the understanding that the first meeting of the 
Board should be one for conference only, and to 
suggest, if they saw it desirable, some plan for fu- 
ture organization. 

In bidding farewell to this large body of Friends, 
he says : — " I was assigned to the east end of the 
large Meeting House, and having expressed a wish 
to meet the Christian workers, I had a very unusual 
audience. About a thousand were present, includ- 
ing a great many of just the class I wished to meet. 
I felt the responsibility of the occasion very much, 
but the help of the Lord was granted in answer to 
prayer. 

"We have now pretty much completed our work 
in Indiana, and have visited all their Quarterly 
Meetings. We have been to a large proportion of 
their particular meetings, and not unfrequently have 
had two to six meetings in a place. Probably all 
through the winter I have averaged twelve meetings 
a week. We have asked our Heavenly Father for 
bodily, mental, and spiritual strength according to 
our need, and can gratefully record the answer to 
our prayer." 



CHAPTER XX. 

WESTERN. 

"Western Yearly Meeting contains 12,000 mem- 
bers, and consists of Friends residing in the western 
half of the State of Indiana and in two Quarterly- 
Meetings on the eastern edge of Illinois. The 
Yearly Meeting is held at Plainfield, nine miles from 
Indianapolis, and is very largely attended. Just to 
the north of Plainfield, in a district fourteen miles 
by seven, in Hamilton county, there are three Quar- 
terly Meetings with 2500 members, and in the neigh- 
bourhood of Plainfield, to the south and west, there 
are three other Quarterly Meetings with 3500 mem- 
bers. Thus a very large number of Friends are 
within easy distance, and the attendance of their 
neighbours is also large. The number of people 
present on the camping ground at one of the Yearly 
Meetings was estimated at 12,000, and as the esti- 
mate was based on the number of conveyances which 
were counted coming into Plainfield that day, most 
likely the figures are approximately correct. The 
camping ground covers several acres. The open-air 
meetings are a great feature in these gatherings. 

'* Western Yearly Meetings is ahead of all the 
Yearly Meetings as regards First-day School work, 
largely in consequence of the persevering labours 



252 Memories of Sta7iley Pumphrey. 

and efficient systematizing of one or two zealous 
teachers. They have scarcely a meeting without a 
First-day school, and a larger proportion of their 
members are in regular attendance than anywhere 
else." 

In November, 1877, Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey 
attended the Biennial First-day School Conference 
at Indianapolis. Delegates from ten of the Ameri- 
can Yearly Meetings were present. One of the fine 
addresses at this conference was on work, by Benja- 
min Frankland of Chicago. His thoughts ran in 
the direction of the words of Smiles : *' Blest work, 
if ever thou wast curse of God, what must His bless- 
ing be," and the line of E. B. Browning's poem — 

" I hold that heaven itself is only work to surer ends." 

He spoke of Paul the veteran apostle working with 
his own hands in the shop of Aquila, at Corinth ; 
and dwelt on the nobility of toil. David Updegraff, 
Timothy Harrison, Dr. Rhoads, and many others took 
part, and a large number of subjects were introduced 
and discussed. 

Later on we find Stanley and. his wife at Chicago ; 
and he writes from there of his thoughtfulness re- 
specting the churches in the West ; so much real life 
and vigour, yet so much need of an evenly-balanced 
judgment. " I preached to them," he says, *'from i 
Peter iv. 10, 11 : 'As every man hath received the 
gift, even so minister the same one to another as 
good stewards of the manifold grace of God ; ' back- 
ing up the sentiments of Peter with the words of his 



Western. 253 

dear brother Paul to Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus. 
I urged them to faithfulness to the Lord who bought 
them ; not to despise the day of small things ; not to 
become trammelled with the pursuit of the things 
of this life, but to let the Lord's cause be foremost." 

Perhaps no spot in this Yearly Meeting claimed so 
much of Stanley Pumphrey's attention as West 
Union, in the compass of White Lick Quarterly 
Meeting. He felt called to tarry there, and with the 
help of his wife, to hold a series of meetings day 
after day. Of these he thus writes from Valley 
Mills :— 

"We continued to hold meetings twice a day. 
The interest deepened and the attendance increased. 
We had the company of John Carey, an elderly 
minister from Grant County, who had felt he must 
come to West Union and stay awhile, so that his 
service and ours tallied exactly. We preached the 
Gospel as simply, forcibly and earnestly as we were 
able. We were careful to lay the foundation of re- 
pentance from dead works and faith towards God, 
and set forth the freeness of the Gospel message, 
that the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call 
upon Him, Twenty-six meetings were thus held. 
At the end of the time came the Quarterly Meeting. 
Out of 1000 members they have only one recorded 
minister, a condition of things probably without 
parallel in the West. One of the most interesting 
meetings was held on Second-day morning. I 
brought forward the Scripture teaching on confes- 
sion : ' If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath 



254 Memories of Sta7iley Pumphrey. 

raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For 
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, 
and with the mouth confession is made unto salva- 
tion.' This had the desired effect of leading a large 
proportion of the adult members present to give 
their testimony, and they did it very feelingly, with- 
out any one urging them unduly. One dear old wo- 
man said that from the time she was a little girl she 
believed she had never been ashamed to confess her 
Saviour. Several expressed the goodness of the 
Lord to them, and others determined by grace to 
lead more devoted lives. 

" In the evening meetings there was usually sing- 
ing, and often several prayers and testimonies. 
Those who felt anxious were asked to rise to their 
feet. They will not do this unless they are in earnest, 
and then we knew who wanted talking to at the 
close of the meeting. We afterwards gave invita- 
tions to any we knew were impressed, to come in the 
afternoon to the friend's house where we were stay- 
ing, so that we might have private conversation and 
a meeting with them. Most of them came again the 
following afternoon, and a good many other young 
Christians with them. There were almost more than 
could get into the house. Some were led to decide 
for Christ, others were afresh aroused, and the work- 
ing members acknowledged the benefit they had 
themselves received." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

OHIO. 

Jonathan Taylor and his wife removed to Ohio in 
1800, and settled near the site of the present town of 
Mount Pleasant. For eighteen days, while building 
a cabin, they lived in a tent, and during this time 
the first meetings west of the Ohio River were held 
in and about this tent, the people sitting on logs, 
surrounded by a magnificent forest. The present 
membership of the Yearly Meeting in Ohio, with 
which London Yearly Meeting corresponds, is be- 
tween 3000 and 4000. 

On the 17th July, 1879, Stanley Pumphrey and his 
wife were at Cleveland, Ohio. It is a rapidly in- 
creasing city, and a seat of the iron trade. The via- 
duct is a remarkably fine structure, just completed. 
It is something after the style of the Holborn Via- 
duct, but is much larger, and has to be provided 
with a tremendous drawbridge, as it crosses a navig- 
able river near its entrance to Lake Erie. The num- 
ber of vehicles that pass over it in a day compared to 
foot passengers presents a singular contrast to the 
average in England, 5000 vehicles passing to every 
8000 who walk over. Euclid Avenue is considered 
one of the finest streets in the world. It is seven 
miles long, with a succession of beautiful residences 



256 Memories of Stafiley Pumphrey. 

the whole way. There is generally only a light iron 
fence to protect the gardens, so that the lawns and 
shrubberies, flowers and fountains can be enjoyed 
by the passers-by. 

" We went on to Van Wert, where there has been 
a larger accession of members than in any other 
place we have heard of. This Monthly Meeting, 
which belongs to Indiana Yearly Meeting, but is 
situated in the State of Ohio, w^as only set up about 
five years ago, and they have now 700 members. 
They built one Meeting House and had to enlarge 
it. They built a still better Meeting House seven 
miles from it, at Middlepoint, and they are now pre- 
paring to. build a third house and establish a third 
meeting, midway between the two. They are con- 
tinually receiving applications to go and hold meet- 
ings in other localities, and if they had an adequate 
stafiE of workers to organize and build up churches 
as well as gather them, they could rapidly make 
headway. 

" Our meetings at Van Wert were well attended. 
On First-day evening more came than could get in. 
They have a good deal of singing in their meetings, 
and little silence. They value the liberty of preach- 
ing, and many of them exercise it. They enjoy their 
meetings, and are very hearty in their greetings of 
one another, and the expression on the faces of these 
new converts shows that many of them have really 
found the true treasure. The people are mostly 
poor, but the best hospitality they can give is most 
cheerfully accorded. 

*' The mercury is at 90°. In the old forest lands 



Ohio. 257 

of Ohio and Indiana sufficient wood has been left 
to intercept the full current of air, and there is 
not the freshness in the atmosphere of the prairie 
lands of Iowa and Kansas, or of the New England 
States." 

At Damascus Stanley Pumphrey gave a Bible 
lesson in the meeting of ministers and elders on 
Malachi ii. 5 — 7. '*I have been thankful," he says, 
"for the liberty on these occasions to offer special 
instruction on subjects connected with ministerial 
and pastoral work ; and these Bible lessons have met 
with emphatic approval. While careful not to lose 
the devotional element from these meetings, I am 
convinced they ought to be more practical, and more 
used as a school of the prophets." 

In the summer of 1879, Stanley Pumphrey and his 
wife attended Ohio Yearly Meeting. The meeting 
of ministers and elders was a remarkable occasion. 

"A Friend gave a powerful address, calling on all 
present to consecrate themselves completely to the 
Lord, and to trust in the Lord to deliver them from 
all sin. 

" Elizabeth Malleson followed, and proposed that 
all should kneel down together before God. This 
was done, and the whole meeting, with very few ex- 
ceptions, remained upon their knees, while brief pe- 
titions rose up from full hearts. The power of the 
Lord was over all." 

Elizabeth Malleson has since been called away to 
heaven, there to mingle with the spirits of many with 
whom she held communion on earth. 

*' In another of the meetings on ministry and over- 



258 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

sight, a minister brought forward the great concern 
he felt for more stability in our religious work. He 
was tired, he said, of going back to the same place 
time after time, and having to dig out the same peo- 
ple from their old holes. People must be made to 
understand that religion is a life, and not simply a 
periodical emotion. 

" In an impressive meeting for worship held dur- 
ing this Yearly Meeting, Elizabeth Malleson stood up 
and said, * The word of the Lord to me to-day is, * Do 
not preach, but tell thy experience.' Brought up in 
the Church of England I early became religious, and 
went in for the complete and scrupulous observance 
of the whole ritual, being regarded as a model of de- 
votion to the services of the Church. Yet I was un- 
satisfied, and at last became so bitterly disappointed 
at my failure to realize peace within, that I threw the 
whole thing up, and went in for the world. After 
coming to America, I was induced to go to a Metho- 
dist meeting, but for a considerable time it was my 
delight to mimic and ridicule those who went there. 
My conversion took place at my own house, under 
the immediate influence of the Spirit of God. I then 
had to confess it before the people. At a holiness 
camp meeting I received a second experience, and 
found deliverance from the power of sin, and had al- 
so to confess this before the people. In this I was 
going further than the minister or any of the con- 
gregation, and this confession brought down upon 
me severe criticism and opposition, but the reality of 
the experience was evidenced, when, under the loss of 
our property, I remained unmoved, and was still able 



Ohio. 259 

to witness to joy, and peace, and rest, and triumph. 
After this, however, I lost the brightness of this 
happy experience, but recovered it again through 
the influence brought to bear upon me at the Friends' 
revival meetings at Glens Falls, New York State. 
It was the Lord who guided me to Friends, and it 
was the Lord who brought me out in the ministry 
among them.' The narrative was listened to with 
profound attention. It was searching, and came in 
the power of God, and many were led to cry to God 
for a deeper heart-cleansing, and for power-impart- 
ing grace. Harriet Steer asked for silence, and 
David Updegraff prayed, ' Oh God, keep us still 
before Thee.' Then followed a solemn pause, in 
which the presence of God was realized, and the 
meeting concluded with brief testimonies and earnest 
prayers. 

'* One evening was devoted to the meeting of the 
Missionary Board. Interesting accounts were given 
of the work that had been done in the limits of their 
own Yearly Meeting, and in Tennessee. Half an 
hour was given to me, to bring forward the proposal 
for an American Friends' Missionary Board. Micajah 
Binford was the next speaker, on the Mexican Mis- 
sion and its need of support. Elizabeth L. Com- 
stock addressed us. Her heart has been touched 
with the needs of the coloured refugees who are 
pouring from the South into Kansas. They are in 
deplorable destitution, and she is going to look after 
them. 

'' Next day the Missionary question came before 
the Yearly Meeting, and was united with as it had 



26o Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

been the evening before, and a minute was adopted 
placing the subject on a wide basis, so as to include 
work among the Indians, Freedmen, Tennessee moun- 
taineers, etc. ; and five members of the Yearly Meet- 
ing were appointed as delegates to attend the next 
meeting of the Missionary Board. 

" I called on Caroline Talbot before leaving town. 
She had a severe attack during the Yearly Meeting, 
which prevented her attending the concluding sit- 
tings. She looks very frail. Elizabeth L. Comstock 
is also a member of this Yearly Meeting. Fervent 
prayer was offered for us ere the meetings closed. 
Friends were very loving, and in parting from them 
I felt more warmly towards Ohio Yearly Meeting 
than I had ever done before." 

As Stanley Pumphrey passed away from this dis- 
trict, where he had formed so many true-hearted 
friendships, he makes the following entries in his 
journal : — 

" I am much struck with the dying words of Sir 
Harry Vane, as quoted by Joseph Cook. ' Be not 
troubled,' he said to his children, 'fori am going 
home to my Father. Suffer anything from men 
rather than sin against God : ten thousand deaths 
rather than defile the chastity of conscience. ' ' Blessed 
be God,' he said, as he bared his neck for the axe, 
* I have kept a conscience void of offence until this 
day, and have not deserted the righteous cause for 
which I suffer.' 

*' Kingsley's dying words were — ' It is not dark- 
ness, for God is light. It is not lonely, for Christ is 
with us. It is not an unknown country, for He is 



Ohio, 261 

there.' And in beautiful accord are the lines of 
Faber — 

* 'Tis not alone we land upon that shore, 
'Twill be as though we there had been before. 

We shall meet more we know 

Than we can meet below, 
And find our rest, like some returning dove. 
And be at home at once with our eternal love.' " 



CHAPTER XXII. 

WORK AMONG THE COLOURED PEOPLE. 

** A HUNDRED years ago, a deep sense of the iniquity 
of slavery, and a noble willingness to do, for the 
Lord's sake, what they saw right to do, even though 
involving great pecuniary sacrifice, led the Friends 
of America to give freedom to all they held in bonds. 
From that time the coloured man has looked upon 
the Quaker as his friend, and the Quaker has re- 
garded the coloured man as one he loved to help. 

*'When Lincoln's memorable proclamation had 
decreed that 'on the first day of January, 1863, all 
persons held as slaves shall be free henceforward 
and forever,' Friends were among the first to hasten 
to the help of those who were cast, ignorant, starv- 
ing, and in rags, upon the pity of the North. The 
story of those days ought to be written while we 
have still among us the self-denying men and women 
by whom succour was conveyed to the freedmen ; 
men and women whose labours were often accom- 
plished at the peril of their lives." 

The very valuable work of the Baltimore Associ- 
ation, and the part taken ever since the war by Phil- 
adelphia and New York Friends and other Yearly 
Meetings on behalf of the coloured people, are well 
known. 



Work Among the Coloured People. 263 

From his first landing in America, Stanley Pum- 
phrey felt deep interest in the coloured population, 
and had meetings with them in many places. Al- 
though these meetings with the coloured people oc- 
curred at intervals during his four years' service in 
the States, it has seemed best to concentrate them in 
one chapter, in order that his impression of them 
may be the more clearly portrayed. 

In the first meeting he had with them in Carolina 
he preached from the story of the centurion. They 
warmed up and wanted to shout, but restrained 
themselves in deference to the Friends. They 
crowded up afterwards to shake hands and to press 
for another visit. Their faces showed their delight, 
and they laughed for joy, exclaiming, *'We thought, 
maybe, as he'd come so far, that he'd have some new 
way to tell us ; but, bless the Lord, it's just the same 
old way we've known about so long ! " 

In North Carolina, Stanley Pumphrey called on an 
aged Friend, Delphina Mendenhall, whose husband 
was not a member of our Society, and had owned 
eighty slaves whom he had inherited. At the time 
of Benjamin Seebohm's visit in 1847, both husband 
and wife attended the meeting at New Garden where 
he preached. Before a congregation of 800 people 
he was led to address one person pointedly with the 
words, '* What is it that lies between thee and thy 
God ? — Is it any portion of estate, ox supposed estate ? " 
The singular expression, "supposed estate," was 
just the one by which George Mendenhall was ac- 
customed to describe the negro part of his inheri- 
tance ; and the message struck home. It was re- 



264 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

peated at Springfield a little later : " What is it that 
lies between thee and thy God ? — Is it any portion of 
estate, or of supposed estate ? " From that time this 
slaveholder endeavoured to secure the emancipation 
of his slaves. He had to send them across the 
country to the free States, a long journey in wagons, 
and at a great expense. They could only be sent 
in detachments ; and one of these detachments the 
Mendenhalls themselves accompanied. In his will 
the husband directed that all who remained should 
be set free ; but just when he died the civil war 
broke out, and it was impossible to carry out his 
wish ; so that during those four years the widow had 
to care for them and provide for them as best she 
could. The provision came like the manna. She 
carried out her peace principles consistently ; and 
when an order came to her saw-mills for a quantity 
of timber to erect shops for the manufacture of guns, 
she refused to allow the work to be done. As soon 
as the way was open, she liberated her slaves, accom- 
panying them herself to the Federal lines, where she 
had to entrust an officer with the large sum of money 
needed to convey them to their destination. She 
sought God's guidance, and trusted them in His 
hands, although she never heard one word of them 
again for six months. 

"At another meeting in their neighbourhood, 
Benjamin Seebohm stopped short in his address, and 
spoke to some who were present : ' You have been 
tempted to put your hands to that which is not your 
own, and it is now in your possession. You are 
trembling upon the seats before me. So great is the 



Work Among the Coloured People. 265 

mercy of the Lord, that if you repent and make res- 
titution, He is ready to forgive you ; and so great is 
His mercy, that if you accept this warning, you will 
not be publicly exposed.' At the close of the meet- 
ing a woman present said she did not believe a word 
of what the old Quaker said ; she knew all who were 
there, and there was not one of them who would do 
such a thing. It soon transpired that her own hus- 
band had been robbed ; and in three weeks the three 
offenders, who had all been at the meeting, were in 
the hands of the police. 

*'I spent the afternoon at Warnersville. At the 
close of the war Yardley Warner started this colony, 
where the coloured people have a fair chance, and 
are located. We walked down the long street of the 
settlement, and gladly noticed the comfortable dwell- 
ings, with an acre or so of land attached. Most of 
the people here can read and write ; and they have 
a capital school. I stopped to talk to one of these, 
who is living in his own house. 

" ' They tell me,' I said, ' that some of your people 
are worse off than they used to be when they were 
slaves.' 

*' ' There may be some badly off,' he replied, 'with- 
out enough food or clothing : but so there were in 
the old times ; and more so than now. Generally 
speaking, we are much better off.' 

'■'' 'Then it is not true,' I queried, 'that you wish 
yourselves back in slavery ? ' 

" ' True ! ' he exclaimed ; ' ha, ha, ha ! Let them 
put it to the vote. They wouldn't find one in all 
Carolina ! ' 



266 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

" ' I suppose you were both slaves,' I said to an- 
other couple. 

'"'■ 'Yes, sir.' 

'^ 'Well, they tell me that husband and wife were 
not often parted in those days.' 

" * Indeed, sir, they were, it happened every day,' 
answered the woman ; ' I was sold several times my- 
self, and -my little child of eight years old was sold 
away from me, and I never saw him more.' 

** Yet there is no doubt that many of the Freedmen 
are shiftless and improvident ; others are lazy, and 
seem to have no ambition to do better. In other 
places they mortgage their houses and their agricul- 
tural implements, get into debt, and move from place 
to place. Never trained to take care of themselves, 
many of them have little notion how^ to do it. But 
with judicious help and education noble results are 
being achieved." 

At the annual meeting of the Institute for Coloured 
Youth in Philadelphia, in which Marmaduke Cope 
and other Friends have so long taken an active in- 
terest, Stanley Pumphrey found 1500 people assem- 
bled, almost all of them coloured citizens, all respect- 
ably dressed, and listening with great attention, in 
perfect order. Such occasions and such institutions 
are full of promise for the future of the coloured 
race. 

Stanley Pumphrey was deeply interested in his 
visit to Southland College, near Helena, in the State 
of Arkansas. This institute for the training of col- 
oured teachers has from the first been under the care 
of Indiana Friends. Calvin and Alida Clark have 



Work Among the Coloured People. 267 

been stationed there since 1864. The traveller along 
the road from Helena to Forest City, after leaving 
the succession of low, timbered hills, which at this 
point skirt the great basin of the Mississippi River, 
looks down from a wooded slope upon a broad tract 
of country which has all the marks of fertility. 

Dotted about are the cabins of the coloured people, 
through whose toil this district was conquered from 
the forest, and turned into cotton fields, where they 
worked a^ slaves. The process of clearing is still 
going on, as indicated by the tall, bare poles of 
deadened timber. " You will know Southland di- 
rectly you see it," said his driver, *'for it looks quite 
like a town ; " and he soon spied it with its impor- 
tant buildings. Here in 1864 an orphan asylum was 
opened by Indiana Friends. 

Colonel Bentzoni, who was then stationed at He- 
lena, in charge of the 56th U. S. Coloured Infantry, 
became warmly interested in the institution, and, to- 
gether with his officers and men, purchased the thirty 
acres of land on which the college now stands, and 
conveyed it in trust for the coloured people to Indi- 
ana Yearly Meeting, and fifty acres have since been 
added. The soldiers had the option of hanging about 
Helena doing nothing, or of working for the interests 
of their own people, and, much to their credit, they 
erected the first buildings for the orphans themselves. 
Day schools were added, and 2500 children have been 
taught to read and write. The orphan asylum was 
afterwards changed into the Normal Institute, for 
training coloured teachers, which has been very suc- 
cessful. About one hundred have gone out as teach- 



268 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

ers, and fifty of these are now teaching in Arkansas 
and the adjoining States of Tennessee and Missis- 
sippi. 

When Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey visited South- 
land, in 1878, they attended the annual temperance 
meeting. ''The enthusiasm of the proceedings 
reached its height when several of the older coloured 
brethren sang some of their old plantation hymns. 
One of these, beginning — 

' Go, Jonah, and preach My Gospel,' 

related with much minuteness the history of that dis- 
obedient prophet ; the blanks in the Bible narrative 
were filled up, and Jonah's experiences from the 
time he went down to Joppa till he was swallowed 
by the fish were related with great vividness and 
force of imagination. 

*' Another hymn which was sung with ardour runs 
in this fashion — 

* Reign, oh reign, oh reign my Lord, 

Reign, Massa Jesus, reign ; 
Rain, oh rain salvation down. 

Reign, Massa Jesus, reign.* 

"On another occasion we had a remarkable testi- 
mony from an elderly coloured woman, whose de- 
portment had the dignity and refinement that true 
religion alone can give. A skilful dressmaker, she 
had earned enough money to purchase her own free- 
dom and that of one of her children. She was im- 
prisoned at Charleston by the Confederates at the 



Work Among the Coloured People. 269 

commencement of the war, because in a letter to her 
son, who was serving in the Northern army, she said 
she was praying daily for his preservation and that 
of his commanding officer. 

"'I entered the ship Zion thirty years ago,' she 
added, ^ and I am noways tired. The Lord has been 
very good to me. The Lord has delivered me out of 
all my afflictions. When I was hungry. He fed mie ; 
when I was naked. He clothed me ; when I was sick, 
He healed me ; and when I was in trouble, He com- 
forted me. Oh, what would the world be without 
Jesus ! Had I a thousand tongues I could not speak 
enough in my Redeemer's praise.' " 

Stanley and Sarah Pumphrey, in company with 
Elkanah and Irena Beard, had a number of meetings 
of a varied character with these people. A good 
deal of direct religious teaching from the Bible was 
given. " The interest increased night after night ; 
and by the close of the week many were seeking the 
pardon of their sins, and others had renewed their 
covenants. During the daytime we had many pri- 
vate interviews with the anxious and with the uncon- 
cerned ; we spent a considerable time in the classes, 
and called on the people in the neighbourhood. 
Elkanah Beard preached with great earnestness. 
The power of God was manifest, and as soon as 
he had finished, numbers came forward unsolici- 
ted, with inquiries like those which were made 
to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost — ' Men and 
brethren, what must we do to be saved ? ' One 
young man, for whom prayer had been offered, 
came and asked the forgiveness of another with 



270 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

whom he had long had a quarrel, and the two were 
reconciled. 

'' Amasa and Lydia Chase are zealously engaged 
in missionary work in the neighbourhood. When 
the Indiana Women's Yearly Meeting raised thirty 
dollars for their support, Lydia Chase at once in- 
vested it in tracts, and no salaries are paid to any one 
in the institution except the teachers. 

" The place is still known as the ' asylun ' amongst 
the people around, and some of the orphan children 
are still with them. One of these, named Emma 
France, is a teacher in the school. She was a very 
little girl when brought into the orphan -home, and 
cannot remember much of her life previously. Her 
name was Emma Hopgood, but she thought it was 
not pretty, so she changed it to Emma France. This 
was not found out till she had been in the home 
some time, so it has been continued ever since. 

''Yesterday was the fourteenth anniversary of the 
institution, and invitations were sent to many of the 
old students and friends, who gathered in from dif- 
ferent parts of the country. These, with forty-five 
students who are boarding in the home and the 
friends who had come from Indiana to be present on 
the occasion, were regaled with a turkey dinner, 
after which a * praise meeting ' was held in the Meet- 
ing House. The object of this meeting was that all 
might have an opportunity of telling how the Lord 
had led them, and how they had been getting on 
spiritually and temporally during the past year, or 
since they left the school. It was conducted by 
Elkanah Beard, who was well fitted for the post, hav- 



Work Among the Coloured People. 271 

ing been with them many times at the anniversaries 
and being well acquainted with the students, many 
of whom had been brought to the Lord at the time 
of his visits. After singing and prayer, he gave an 
address on the text, 'We are witnesses.' *We have 
seen great things done which our forefathers said 
were impossible. Steam is made to draw a train of 
cars along a railroad, or to drive a ship across the 
sea. The lightning has been tamed and converted 
into an errand boy to carry messages round the 
world. We are witnesses of these things. People 
said it was no more use trying to educate and elevate 
coloured people than horses, but it has been done, 
and we are witnesses of the fact. And then we are 
witnesses of what the power of God can do in saving 
souls.' Many old students spoke afterwards. 

"William Granville said he came to the school in 
1865, and was very thankful to God and to Mr. and 
Mrs. Clark for all the blessings he had received there. 
He is now taking charge of a school himself, and 
told some of the difficulties he has to meet in his 
work. He was sorry to say that he did not enjoy so 
much peace as formerly, for he had not always been 
faithful in doing his duty. He felt he ought to have 
prayer in his school, but he had not done it, and 
this had been a hindrance to his spiritual life. 

*' Simon Walker said he too was thankful for the 
benefit he had received when at the institute. He 
was trying to serve the Lord, had devotional exer- 
cises every morning in his school, and taught the 
children as well as he knew how from the Scriptures. 
Some were prejudiced against him for being a Quaker. 



2/2 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

The rebel whites did not like the Quakers, and taught 
the coloured people that they were a bad set and 
their religion was of no account. 

** William Davis said he was trying to witness for 
the Lord among those around him ; he talked to 
them about temperance, but it did not seem to make 
much impression. He w^anted to be a better Chris- 
tian and liye nearer the Lord. 

*' Zenas Parrier said he had found a great blessing 
since he had been in the school; he had found Jesus 
Christ, while many of his old associates at home had 
been going to the penitentiary. He had not been as 
faithful as he ought to haye been, and seemed to 
have lost some of the blessing he once enjoyed : but 
he w^as determined to do better. His lessons were 
very hard — he was studying geometry^, — and some- 
times he got vexed over it, and gave his teacher 
trouble : but he wouldn't do so any more ; he would 
pray to the Lord, for God could help him to learn 
his geometry lesson. He felt he ought to speak in 
the meetings sometimes, but he had neglected it so 
long he was almost ashamed to do it now ; and this 
was one reason he had got off the track. 

" George Bell had left the institute four years. 
He was trjnng to do all in his power to elevate his 
people and instruct their children. He had taught 
a school in Mississippi, and he opened the school 
with singing and prayer. He gave his scholars 
Scripture instruction, and twenty- five of them had 
professed conversion and joined the Baptist church. 
He was now teaching in Arkansas, 300 miles from 
Helena, and the Lord had blessed some of his schol- 



Work Among the Coloured People. 273 

ars there ; but they had great opposition to meet 
with on account of the ignorance of the parents. 
They said children of twelve or fifteen years of age 
were too young to get religion, and would even whip 
them to destroy the good impressions that had been 
made on them. A director wanted him to give up 
teaching from the Bible ; but he said no^ he would 
rather give up the school. 

** Calvin Lawry said he had been getting on better 
the past year in his Christian life than ever before, 
for instead of bearing his troubles himself, he had 
learnt to take them to the Lord. 

'' Many others spoke and gave testimony to the 
blessings they had received, and as there was not 
time to hear all, those were asked to rise who had 
not had an opportunity to speak, but who had been 
converted since they had been in the institute, when 
a large proportion of those who had not spoken rose 
to their feet, thus to testify of what the Lord had 
done for their souls." 

Stanley Pumphrey and Irena Beard then spoke a 
few words of encouragement to the young Christians 
to be steadfast and faithful, and the meeting closed. 

It is the opinion of many of those engaged in the 
work, that almost the only hope for the elevation of 
the coloured population in the South is in the edu- 
cation of the children. The older people, who have 
been raised on plantations in time of slavery, are so 
dark and ignorant. The county school inspector re- 
marked to Stanley Pumphrey, " We should not know 
what to do without Southland ; they turn us out the 
best teachers we can get for the coloured people." 



2/4 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey . 

" But it is the religious part of the work that has 
all along been its prominent feature. There has 
been an earnest concern that all the scholars should 
be brought under Christian influence. Compara- 
tively few of the students have left without giving 
evidence of conversion to God ; and about one hun- 
dred have been received into membership with 
Friends. 

*' In 1873, Southland Monthly Meeting of Friends 
was established, composed almost entirely of coloured 
people ; and in 1876 a branch meeting was set up 
called Hickory Ridge, twenty miles further west. 
Daniel Drew, a coloured man, was recorded a minis- 
ter of the Gospel there in 187 1, and continues to ex- 
ercise his gift to the edification and comfort of his 
friends. Other coloured men w^ho have received a 
gift in the ministry are working diligently among 
their own people. There are now 175 members, and 
four ministers ; and, beyond doubt, the work is owned 
and blessed of the Lord to the great good of many 
souls." 

While in the south, Stanley Pumphrey paid a visit 
to the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Since the dis- 
covery of these caves, in 1809, many new passages 
have been opened and explored. Visitors are taken 
nine miles under the earth. The galleries vary very 
much in height, from forty feet to ten and fifteen 
feet. One of the most interesting halls is the Star 
Chamber, the roof of which spangles with alabaster, 
something like the milky way, with its myriads of 
stars. Another chamber is rightly named the Wild 
Hall, from the weird irregularity of its walls and 



Work Among the Coloured People. 275 

floor. Another is the Chapel, where young couples 
have sometimes been married. We approached 
Gorms Dome by a series of rough staircases, till we 
came to a sort of window, through which we looked 
into a vague height above, and a dim depth below. 
The guide threw in a Bengal light, which revealed a 
cavity some 300 feet in height, the walls being en- 
crusted with stalactite. To the Mammoth Dome we 
had a much harder scramble. Here we found five 
natural columns, huge as those of York Minster, 
supporting a roof whose height and span are truly 
gigantic ; and the stalactites and stalagmites are very 
grand. Another great gulf that was lighted up for our 
benefit has received the title of the Bottomless Pit. 
At the bottom of another unattractive hollow is a 
pool known as the Dead Sea, adjoining a subterra- 
nean river in which are the strange eyeless fish who 
have never known the privileges of daylight. The 
spiders also are blind, and the rats nearly so. Inhab- 
iting this huge cave is an entirely distinct variety of 
bat, larger than the common one, with head like a 
rabbit, greyish coat, and white feet. For nearly a 
mile from the entrance bats abound, and hang to- 
gether in clusters, blackening the roof. They like 
the w^armth of the cave, which stands at an even tem- 
perature of 59° summer and winter. Thirty years ago 
people adopted the notion that owing to this even- 
ness of temperature a residence in the cave would be 
very useful for consumptive patients, and a dozen 
houses were built, to which the invalids were brought 
great distances. But no evenness of temperature 
could compensate for the unvarying gloom, and the 



276 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

patients died off one by one ; and we found only the 
remnants of the walls of two of the houses. We also 
saw the remains of the saltpetre works which were 
carried on successfully here during the war of 181 2. 
The return route to daylight is very curious, up the 
steep and tortuous steps of a corkscrew staircase, 
reminding me of the lines in which Dante closes the 
first section of his wonderful poem : — 

* Rough was the stair we came to 

By that secret way. 
My guide and I did enter to return 
To the fair world ; and, heedless of repose, 
We climbed, he first, I following his steps 
Till on our view the beautiful lights of heaven 
Dawned through a circular opening in the cave, 
Thence issuing we again beheld the stars.' " 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CANADA. 

An officer in the army, about the year 17 14, grow- 
ing dissatisfied and uneasy in his mind about his 
soul, returned home and sat down with his family to 
wait in quiet retirement upon God. Some of his 
neighbours came and sat down with him, but they 
did not know any people who held the views they 
were embracing until someone who had some knowl- 
edge of Friends told them they were '' Quakers." 
Subsequently a committee from New York was ap- 
pointed to visit them, and thus the first meeting of 
the Society of Friends was established in Canada. 
In 1809, Canada Half -Yearly Meeting was formed, 
and as the meetings grew, from immigration and 
other causes, Canada Yearly Meeting was at last set- 
tled on its present basis, in 1867. The first time the 
Yearly Meeting was held '' The Dominion of Canada " 
was publicly inaugurated, and this singular coinci- 
dence gave fresh courage to the gathering, and they 
embraced the opportunity to send their friendly as- 
surances of loyalty to the new Government. A body 
consisting to a large extent of immigrants who squat 
on land allotments, and are engrossed in the hard 
struggle of colonists is not usually a promising soil 
for corporate Church action. But difficulties of this 



2/8 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

sort are continually mending, and congregations that 
at one time might seem to present somewhat conglo- 
merate elements become gradually annealed. 

*' I stayed the night at Buffalo," writes Stanley 
Pumphrey, ''and proceeding the next morning over 
the magnificent bridge across the Niagara to Canada, 
was met by William Wetherald, whose preaching is 
much appreciated through the country. I dined 
with John Atkins, formerly of Chipping Norton, 
England. From the hill on which his house stands 
there is an extensive view of Lake Erie on the one 
hand, and of Lake Ontario on the other. They can 
see a hundred miles in one direction. The spray 
from the falls of Niagara, which is 12 miles away, is 
often seen, and the sound may be heard on a still 
winter's night. 

"Canada Yearly Meeting is small. There were 
many ministers present from other Yearly Meetings, 
and the services of Walter Morris, from England, 
who has been visiting the Friends at their own 
homes, was spoken of with warm appreciation. He 
procured a horse and trap, and had driven himself 
about the country, for the distances he had to travel 
were often so great, it would have been difficult to 
manage any other way. The Clerk of the Yearly 
Meeting said, ' Walter has done a great work among 
us.' Every morning during the Yearly Meeting, 
from 8.15 to 9.45, meetings for exhortation and 
prayer were held, of the kind that has become char- 
acteristic of American Yearly Meetings, commenc- 
ing with a Bible reading and exposition, prayers and 
short addresses occupying the first hour, and short 



Canada. 279 

testimonies from all parts of the house the remainder 
of the time, interspersed with singing. Two evening 
meetings were held for seekers, including those who 
desired a higher experience as well as those who 
were longing for forgiveness. 

" The Friends at whose house I was staying sud- 
denly received the intelligence that their son, a 
promising lad of sixteen, had been drowned while 
bathing the previous evening. I felt that it was my 
duty to attend the funeral. A very large company 
assembled, perhaps not fewer than a hundred car- 
riages being on the ground. The Hicksite Meeting 
House, as being larger than our own, was thrown 
open for us, but even then many were unable to get 
in. The teacher of the High School at Newmarket, 
brought all the boy's schoolfellows. I took for my 
text, * Prepare to meet thy God, ' and pointed them 
to Jesus Christ as the one Saviour, the Lamb of God, 
our Redeemer and Propitiation. 

" With respect to the Indians in Canada, it has 
often been pointed out that the Canadian Govern- 
ment has far less trouble in dealing with its Indian 
subjects than the United States. The Indians of 
Canada, according to the latest census, are estimated 
at 99,650. Of this number one-third are resident on 
reserves, and are chiefly to be found in the provinces 
of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns- 
wick ; the remaining two-thirds pursue their old no- 
madic life in Manitoba, British Columbia, and other 
parts of the north-west. 

'' The most important of these reserves is that oc- 
cupied by the Six Nations, on the Grand River, near 



28o Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

Brantford, where 3300 Indians are settled on 52,000 
acres of excellent land. In company with Super- 
intendent Gilkison, I visited this reservation. The 
condition of the Indians upon it may be taken as a 
favourable, though not an unfair, specimen of that 
of others in Ontario and Quebec. They hold the 
land in common, but lots, not exceeding one hun- 
dred acres, are laid off for the benefit of any head of 
a family. Year by year increasing tracts of land are 
brought under cultivation, and large crops are raised- 
Every man has his house, and, in a large proportion 
of cases, a barn or a stable in addition, a plough and 
a wagon, a horse and a cow. Their agricultural 
shows, held each year, rival those of their white 
neighbours. It is an interesting mark of progress 
that thirty-eight Indians in the Dominion are in pos- 
session of threshing machines worth 200 dollars each, 
and bought with the produce of their own labour ; 
and that three diplomas and one medal were awarded 
for wheat and barley grown by them, and exhibited 
at the Centennial at Philadelphia. The houses and 
the farm buildings of the Six Nations compare 
favourably with those that may be seen in many 
frontier portions of the States. 

" Chief George Hill Johnson lives in a genteelly 
furnished house, at which we were kindly enter- 
tained, and enjoyed his company and that of his 
wife and well-educated daughters. He spoke in de- 
cided terms of the improved condition of his people, 
as also did one Oneida Indian with whom I conversed. 
The latter had been away for ten years, and was 
much struck with the change for the better on his 



Canada. 28 1 

return. The increased use of the English language 
was specially remarked ; and of this an illustration 
came under my own notice. The old chiefs, in the 
council I was permitted to attend, talked Mohawk ; 
but the young folks, playing croquet outside, were 
all speaking English. The progress of education has 
been less satisfactory than in some other things, the 
low condition and irregular attendance at the schools 
being one of the most frequent complaints in the 
annual reports of the agents ; 1985 children are re- 
ported as attending school from among the 15,000 
Indians of Ontario ; but the daily average is only 
931. Hence the great value of institutions where the 
children can be boarded and lodged, and kept under 
constant supervision. A very valuable work is being 
done by the Mohawk Institute. Here I found eighty- 
three children receiving an excellent education, in 
which prominence is wisely given to industrial train- 
ing. The girls do all the housework, cook, wash, and 
sew ; tlie boys work on the farm and in the garden, and 
are taught carpentering, painting, and other trades. 
The lady who showed me round the house pointed with 
pride to the play-room the boys had built, the doors 
they had made, and the carving they had executed. 

" Missionary work in behalf of the Indians has 
the warm encouragement and co-operation of the 
Canadian Government, and the agents bear emphatic 
testimony to its good effects. Mr. Plummer of To- 
ronto, who has charge of the central superintend- 
ency, reports that among 2800 Indians belonging 
to his bands, there are two ordained clergymen of 
the Church of England, two Methodist ministers, 



282 Memories of Stanley Piimphrey. 

one Congregational minister, nine school teachers, 
and two medical men, who have passed creditable 
examinations. Most of the Indians in the older por- 
tions of Canada are professing Christians. 

" Under the favourable circumstances in which 
they are placed, the Indians of the Dominion are 
slowly increasing in numbers. This, at least, is the 
case in the two large agencies presided over by J. T. 
Gilkison and W. Plummer, who are both able to re- 
port an increase of something over one per cent, per 
annum for a number of years. Both these gentle- 
men bear witness to the hearty loyalty and general 
good order of the bands under their care. They do 
not consider that they give more trouble, probably 
not so much, as a similar number of w^hite people of 
the lower classes would under like circumstances. 
Though amenable, like other subjects, to the law^s of 
the Dominion, cases of arrest for crime are not num- 
erous ; stealing is too frequent, but acts of violence 
against whites are almost unknown. The greatest 
trouble is with the drink ; all the care of the agents 
and all the strictness of the law not being sufficient 
to prevent its introduction on the reserves, though an 
amendment to the Act, imposing a minimum fine of 
fifty dollars on any one selling liquor to an Indian, is 
reported to have had a very beneficial effect. The 
strong point in the Canadian system of management 
is fair play. The Indian knows that the lands once 
allotted are secure, that funds held in trust will be 
scrupulously administered, and that even-handed 
justice and protection will be dealt to him, and he is 
therefore satisfied and loyal. 



Canada, 283 

" The reserves are the property of the bands 
placed upon them. No portion can be sold except 
with the consent of a majority of male adults by 
special vote, and this must be confirmed by the Gov- 
ernment, which in these matters exercises a parental 
guardianship, and interferes if its wards do not seem 
awake to their real interests. White intruders are 
summarily evicted if they venture to settle on the 
reserves. If mistakes are made, care is taken to rec- 
tify them. When Indian lands are sold, the proceeds 
are held in trust by the Government, and the interest 
is divided half-yearly among the owners. These 
annuities are of doubtful benefit to them, but the 
moral effect of the knowledge that they are being 
fairly treated and are getting what is due to them, is 
of the greatest value. The Government gives them 
full information as to their affairs and moneys, and 
furnishes them with copies of their accounts half- 
yearly. Agents are not liable to frequent removal. 

" ' Confidence begot of faith kept, and justice 
observed, has ever been and will ever be, we trust,' 
say the people of Canada, ' the bond of union be- 
tween us and our red children.' 'We have confi- 
dence in you,' the Indians reply, 'for none of your 
treaties with us have ever been violated.' 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



RETURNING HOME. 



'' Farewell to Friends in America. 

" Dear Friends. — I believe the time has now come 
for my long service among you to be brought to a 
close ; and I wish to say a few parting words. During 
the four years that I have spent among you, in the 
latter half of which I have been accompanied by my 
dear wife, I have visited much the larger proportion 
of your meetings ; and with the single exception of 
Walnut Creek quarter in Kansas, I have laboured 
more or less in all your ninety Quarterly Meetings, 
while to not a few the Lord has led me repeatedly. 
Before I left my home I believed that the promise 
given to Jacob was renewed to me, ' I am with thee, 
and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, 
and will bring thee again into thine own land ; for I 
will not leave thee until I have done that which I 
have spoken to thee of.' ' Thou hast dealt well with 
thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word,' is my 
heartfelt acknowledgment as I think how graciously 
this promise has been verified in my long journey- 
ings, in which I have been kept from all danger, and 
in almost uninterrupted health, though havinggreater 
cause than Jacob to say, * I am not worthy of the 
least of all the mercies and of all the truth which 
Thou hast showed unto Thy servant.' 



Returning Home. 285 

*' Among the mercies of which we have been par- 
takers, the love of our brethren flowing out in 
thoughtful kindness and willing help, has been 
specially refreshing. Our Friends may be assured 
of our grateful love for them, and that we earnestly 
desire their individual and collective welfare. 

'■'■ In the last Quarterly Meeting I attended, that at 
Spiceland, the subject that seemed given to me to 
present was from Acts ix. 31, ' Then had the churches 
rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, 
and were edified ; and walking in the fear of the 
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were 
multiplied. ' What a beautiful picture is presented in 
these words, of a church at rest, because united ; 
holy, because living in the fear of God ; happy, 
through the comfort of the Spirit ; multiplying, be- 
cause faithful in its testimony to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Let us ask that we may at least approxi- 
mate this blessed standard ; that our -people, united 
in love to one another in the truth, may be valiant 
for the truth upon the earth. I am thankful for all 
true philanthropic effort, and wish that we may 
abound in it increasingly. I bless God for the love 
that goes out to the poor and wretched, feeding the 
hungry, clothing the naked, teaching the ignorant, 
caring for the fatherless, the widow and the stranger, 
relieving those who are afflicted in mind, body, or 
estate ; but let us not forget that the truest philan- 
thropy reaches forth to the soul of our brother, seek- 
ing to rescue him from sin and bring him in repent- 
ance and faith to the Saviour's feet. 

" This is the highest mission of the church ; a mis- 



286 Memories of Stanley PiLinphrey. 

sion to which we must gird ourselves and put on 
strength in the name of the Lord. Each meeting 
should be a light in its own neighbourhood. Our 
messengers should be going forth to the neglected 
and degraded of the land, and in far-reaching love 
and obedience, we should unite in helping to carry 
the Gospel to the dark places of the earth." 

Thus Stanley Pumphrey wrote from Baltimore 
during the last days of the year 1879, and early in 
the New Year 1880 sailed for England on board the 
"Celtic," Sitting on the steamer he thus calmly 
reviews the work which the ocean was now so rap- 
idly separating from him : — 

"We are having a magnificent passage ; the sea 
as smooth and the weather as warm as it often is in 
summer. We think we were directed rightly both 
as regards the ship and the time for sailing, and de- 
sire in these things to commemorate the goodness 
of the Lord. 

" The distance travelled during the last four years, 
including the transits across the Atlantic, has been 
about 60,000 miles. Had I to plan the journey over 
again, I would try to be satisfied with the attendance 
of fewer Yearly Meetings ; but in looking over my 
course, I have ordered it according to the light I 
had, and I do not feel condemned. I am, however, 
confirmed in the impression that Yearly Meetings 
are too much crowded by travelling preachers, and 
that ministers would do much better to distribute 
their work more than they do, and also that they 
would be able to serve more intelligently in the 
Yearly Meeting assemblies, had their visits to the 



Returning Home. 2%'J 

subordinate meetings been paid before attending the 
Yearly Meetings. 

*' I have attended twenty-two Yearly Meetings 
during the four years — Baltimore, Canada, and Ohio 
once ; North Carolina, Philadelphia, New York, New 
England and Iowa twice ; Indiana, Western, and 
Kansas three times. My service has largely con- 
sisted in attending Quarterly Meetings. In most of 
the Yearly Meetings these are well arranged, for the 
convenience of travelling preachers, being fixed a 
week apart, and so as not to involve unnecessary 
travel. The Quarterly Meetings generally include a 
Sabbath Day, at which time the people from the 
whole neighbourhood crowd in, so that you see a 
large concourse, and in no other way can the whole 
body of the Society of Friends be so readily met 
with. In the intervals between the Quarterly Meet- 
ings many particular meetings can be visited. I 
have attended 92 of these Quarterly Meetings, some 
of them repeatedly, and have thus visited 71 out of 
the 90 Quarterly Meetings in America, and have 
laboured in them all, except the remote Quarterly 
Meeting of Walnut Creek, on the northern line of 
Kansas, which would have taken a month to visit, and 
I never saw an opportunity of finding the time for it. 
- "There appear to be 644 meetings of our Society 
in America, and of these I have visited 440, in the 
following geographical limits ; — In Canada, I visited 
II, in New England 46, in New York -^t^, in Phila- 
delphia 37, in Baltimore 7, in North Carolina 2i^^ 
in Ohio 27, in Indiana 102, in Western ^^^ in Iowa 
50, in Kansas 21. 



288 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

" I have also attended a few meetings of the 
Wilburite Friends, a good many with the Hicksites, 
especially in and around Philadelphia, and a number 
of meetings in the churches and chapels of other 
denominations. 

''Often many meetings have been held successive- 
ly in the same place. Probably ten meetings a week 
for the whole four years would be a correct average. 
The cost of my journey, with the exception of the 
out passages, has been entirely borne by American 
Friends. The time I have spent in the different 
Yearly Meetings is about as follows. In Baltimore 
and Canada, the two smallest, about three months 
between them ; in Ohio, two months ; in New York, 
New England, and Iowa, four months each ; in 
Western, and Kansas, about five months each ; in 
Indiana, and North Carolina, about six months each ; 
in Philadelphia, about eight months. The need of 
North Carolina and Kansas struck me as being 
greater than some others, and this accounts for the 
comparatively long time spent in these two States ; 
and the time allotted to Kansas includes the long 
trip to the Indian Territory. What little literary 
w^ork I accomplished was done in Philadelphia : the 
lecture on Indian civilization was prepared there in 
the spring of 1877 ; the lecture on Friends' missions 
was written there just before I left. In review of all 
my mercies I can but exclaim, ' Bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy 
name.'" 



CHAPTER XXV. 

AT REST. 

In the latter part of January, 1880, Stanley and 
Sarah Pumphrey landed in England and returned to 
their comfortable home at 41 Britannia Square, 
Worcester. His beloved sister Helen Eddington had 
passed away in his absence, but his sisters Lucy and 
Caroline gladly welcomed their brother home. In 
the spring of 1880, Stanley attended the Yearly Meet- 
ings of Dublin and London, and paid several short 
visits. In the autumn his only child was bom. 
Always fond of children and a favourite with them, 
he had now what he spoke of as the "added treasure 
of a dear little daughter." Immediately after Christ- 
mas he visited Leominster, and gave an address on 
Bible revision at the annual meeting of the adult 
Bible class. He also delighted the children at the 
Orphan Homes with his American stories, and en- 
tered heartily into all that was going on, and many 
could unite in the child's remark, " It was so good 
of God to let him be with us then." 

On the 8th January, 188 1, though feeling unwell, 
he went to Sheffield to lecture on the religious teach-, 
ing of the Society of Friends. The evening of his 
arrival he gave an address on America to the adult 
scholars, and the next day was at the usual meetings 
13 



290 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

of Friends, preaching impressively on the fulness 
of blessing which there is in Christ. On the loth 
he was too ill to fulfil his engagement. His illness 
proved to be typhoid fever, and his wife was tele- 
graphed for. He did not suffer acutely, and while 
keeping very quiet, enjoyed much blessed commun- 
ion with the Lord. The complaint at first progressed 
favourably, but a relapse came on, and though all 
was done that medical skill and thoughtful consider- 
ation could suggest, it soon became evident that 
death was near: ''I have clearly seen," he said, 
" that this sickness has been sent in the goodness of 
the Lord, and He is blessing it to me in many ways." 
Stanley wished to recover, that he might glorify 
Christ more fully, but when fold of his danger, said, 
" If called to go, I am quite ready." 

In God's unerring wisdom the call came, and on 
the 17th February, 1881, in the forty-fourth year 
of his age, he entered on the ''perfect service in the 
Master's presence," to which he had looked forward 
as one of the brightest joys of heaven." As a little 
child his prayer had been, '' I know what it is Thou 
wants; my will." That will had been surrendered 
to his Heavenly Father, and a truly consecrated life 
had been the result. His ministry, commenced in 
early manhood, was cherished and cultivated as a 
gift from God. With singleness of purpose he had 
relinquished business that he might devote himself 
wholly to the service of God, stirring up the gift that 
was in him, and seeking with unflagging diligence to 
fulfil the ministry with which he was entrusted. 

The announcement of Stanley Pumphrey's death 



At Rest. 291 

fell with solemn awe on American Friends, as well 
as on his friends in England. 

*' Pumphrey Hall," for which he had diligently 
laboured, had just been added to the group of 
buildings for the coloured teachers in the Normal 
College at Southland, Arkansas, and as the letter 
arrived with the sorrowful intelligence, it was 
opened with trembling hand, and read with tearful 
eyes. At the Bible reading that morning, several 
of the students rose and testified that it was during 
his visit to Southland, that they found Christ 
precious to their souls in the forgiveness of sins. 

A series of meetings was being held in New York 
State at the time, and when the preachers returned 
to their lodgings in the evening, a letter was lying 
on the library table announcing Stanley Pumphrey's 
death. They all bowed in prayer and emotion, not 
a word was uttered, their hearts were too full. 

In the cabin of the Freedman, 

In the Indian's shelter rude 
All unshrinking stood our brother, 

Pure in heart with soul subdued. 
In our colleges and churches, 

With a practised eye and hand, 
For the common good he laboured, 

Far throughout the wide- spread land. 

''The lesson of such a life," exclaimed J. Bevan 
Braithwaite, "was granted to us in God's wisdom, 
and He has called us to an equally devoted service. 
Shall our young men be henceforth entangled in 
the intricacies of worldly pursuits, or led astray by 



292 Memories of Stanley Pumphrey. 

the splendid baubles of this world's flattery ? Rather 
shall they not be willing, like Stanley Pumphrey, 
to count all things but dross, that they may win 
Christ ! The Lord's hand is not shortened. In the 
devoted service of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are 
still to be found glorious liberty, and perfect peace, 
joy and praise." 



END. 



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